it  Koyjil. 


University  of  California 


Form  L   1 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


4pfi2jJ*f 


WAV  5 


1929 


JAN  8  -  1948 

M/1V  -  8  194$ 
•i.    194 


NOV231949 

DEC  1 

DEC  1  3 

JAN  3   1950 
950 

MAR1?     1950 

JAN  ?  P  1951 
MAR  7    1951 

•AR27RECO 
NOV2  31952 

Form  L-9-15nc-10,'25 


SEP  9    1957 
FEB  2  6 1958 


1  4  1959 
SEf>  1  6 1959 


THE  LIFE  OF 

LORD  STRATHCONA  AND 

MOUNT  ROYAL 

IN 
TWO  VOLUMES 

VOLUME  II 


THE  LIFE  OF 

LORD  STRATHCONA 

AND 

MOUNT  ROYAL 

G.C.M.G.,  G.C.V.O. 
BY  BECKLES  WILLSON 

AUTHOR    OK    "THE    GREAT    FUR    COMPANY*' 
"THE    LIFE    AND    LETTERS    OF    JAMES    WOLFE,"   ETC. 

VOLUME  II 


BOSTON   AND   NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON   MIFFLIN   COMPANY 
Rtoetjjitie  pre£<s  Cambridge 


; 


COPYRIGHT,  1915,  BY   BECKLKS  WILLSON 
ALL   RIGHTS    RESERVED 

Published  December  tqts 


\  0 


Let  not  the  seethe  of  this  rude,  hasting  hour, 
And  the  mad  moment's  futile,  petty  span 
Thrust  into  dull  Oblivion's  vasty  black 
All  memory  of  this  man 
Who  ever  stood  for  Empire's  widening  dream, 

Whose  whole  strong,  failure-conquering  life 
Was  one  rebuke,  forever  calling  men 
From  coward  despair,  effeminate  doubts  and  fears 
To  those  firm  highways  of  the  great  ones  gone. 

WILFRED  CAMPBELL. 


Contents 


XVI.  THE  WINTERING  PARTNERS.   1874-1889  i 

XVII.  THE  ST.  PAUL  &  PACIFIC  RAILWAY.  1873-1878     .    45 

XVIII.  THE  CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  SYNDICATE.  1880- 

1886        .      .      .      .      ^ 91 

XIX.  THE  MANITOBA  SCHOOLS  QUESTION.  1886-1896      .  134 

XX.  GOVERNOR  OF  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY.    1889- 

1914 180 

XXI.  THE  HIGH  COMMISSIONERSHIP.  1896-1897        .      .213 
XXII.  THE  ANNUS  MIRABILIS.  1897 250 

XXIII.  THE  EMIGRATION  MOVEMENT.  1896-1914  .      .      .  279 

XXIV.  "STRATHCONA'S  HORSE."  1898-1900     ....  316 
XXV.  THE  GROWING  TIME.  1900-1909     .      .      .      .      .  372 

XXVI.  THE  CLOSING  DAYS.  1910-1914 422 

XXVII.  PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS     .      .      .      .      .      .467 

APPENDIX  .      .-    -. 503 

INDEX 5°5 


Illustrations 


JAMES  J.  HILL Photogravure  Frontispiece 

THE  LEADING  WINTERING  PARTNERS  OF  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY 
COMPANY,  1871-78 12 

LORD  MOUNT  STEPHEN 60 

From  the  painting  by  Frank  Holl,  A.R.A. 

HON.  DONALD  A.  SMITH  DRIVING  THE  GOLDEN  SPIKE  ON  THE 
CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY,  NOVEMBER  7,  1885  .      .      .122 

MOUNT  SIR  DONALD  IN  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS     .      .      .132 

MARGARET  CHARLOTTE,   THE   PRESENT  LADY  STRATHCONA, 
DAUGHTER  OF  LORD  STRATHCONA 148 

From  a  photograph  taken  about  1885 

SIR  WILFRID  LAURIER,  G.C.M.G 174 

SIR  DONALD  A.  SMITH,  G.C.M.G.,   1896       .      .      .   '  .      .  232 


The  Life  of 

Lord  Strathcona  and 

Mount  Royal 

CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  WINTERING   PARTNERS 
1874-1889 

REFLECTING  upon  the  achievements  of  what 
might  almost  be  called  the  apostolic  succession  of 
the  fur-trade,  one  is  inclined  to  agree  with  the  dic- 
tum that  throughout  the  British  Empire  Provi- 
dence raises  up  men  of  a  special  breed  to  carry  on 
great  and  special  work.  In  the  North-West  and 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  services,  like  that  of  the 
East  India  Company  (on  a  larger  scale),  for  some 
two  centuries  men  were  needed  able  to  acquire  the 
habit  of  command  and  to  develop  responsibility. 
Their  characters  were  formed  amidst  constant 
familiarity  with  danger,  and  they  had  to  face,  as 
one  of  them  has  said,  "the  occasional,  and  some- 
times frequent,  necessity,  perhaps  under  even  des- 
perate circumstances,  of  rapid  exercise  of  tact 
and  sound  judgment  in  coming  to  a  safe  conclusion 
when  life  and  property  were  often  staked  on  an 
immediate  decision." 


Lord  Strathcona 

Although  Mr.  Smith  resigned  as  Chief  Com- 
missioner of  the  Company's  fur-trade,  as  we  have 
just  seen,  in  1874,  to  become  Land  Commissioner, 
yet  he  never  ceased  to  take  a  deep  personal  interest 
in  the  service  in  which  he  had  then  spent  thirty-six 
years  of  his  life.  The  Company  had  changed,  its 
political  principles  of  trade  had  altered  almost 
beyond  recognition;  but  the  little  loyal,  far-flung 
legion  of  fur- traders,  of  the  lineage  of  the  old,  still 
remained.  Amongst  themselves  practical  unity  was 
well-nigh  impossible;  it  became  more  and  more, 
therefore,  the  policy  of  the  London  Board  through 
their  instrument  (usually,  as  I  have  before  re- 
marked, one  who  knew  nothing  about  the  fur- 
trade),  to  keep  them  sundered.  Reasons  of  senti- 
ment, rather  than  of  commercial  profit,  kept 
Donald  A.  Smith  in  their  ranks,  or  rather,  in  the 
van.  More  and  more,  no  matter  who  happened  to 
be  in  power,  they  looked  to  him  for  leadership.  His 
commercial  and  industrial  interests  grew;  had  he 
consulted  these  alone  he  would,  as  he  said  himself, 
have  "bade  farewell  to  the  fur- trade."  But  he 
would  as  soon  have  severed  his  right  arm  as  cut 
himself  off  from  the  old  Company  of  Adventurers 
of  the  North.  He  had  resigned  barely  six  months 
when  we  find  him  writing:  — 

To  Chief  Factor  Archibald  McDonald 

January,  1875. 

Without  strict  economy  in  every  part  of  the  business 
and  retrenchment  in  outfits,  officers,  men  and  posts, 
in  every  item  to  the  lowest  possible  degree,  divi- 

2 


Strict  Economy  enjoined 

dends  cannot  be  expected.  Indents1  beyond  what 
the  resources  of  the  district  can  produce  must  be 
checked. 

It  is  the  wisest  and  most  prudent  policy  to  reduce 
the  outfits  to  the  real  requirements  of  the  trade  and 
cut  off  all  unnecessary  luxuries  and  useless  trash  that 
are  of  no  beneficial  use  for  men  or  Indians,  but  in- 
creasing the  discontent  and  diversion  to  buy  and 
impoverish  themselves  for  what  they  do  not  really 
require,  and  which  conduce  in  no  wise  to  increase  their 
comfort,  content,  or  happiness;  every  additional  un- 
necessary item  added  to  the  outfit  increases  the  amount 
of  cost  price.  The  difficulty  of  freighting  in  such  large 
bulky  outfits,  as  well  as  the  very  heavy  cost  of  freight, 
must  always  be  borne  in  mind. 

Amongst  the  letters  of  the  officers  to  one  another 
there  are  many  tributes  to  Mr.  Smith.  One  from 
a  veteran  who  had  known  him  over  thirty  years 
I  cannot  forbear  quoting:  — 

Inspecting  Chief  Factor  Hamilton  to  Chief  Factor 
MacFarlane 

CARLTON  HOUSE,  nth  August,  1875. 

On  reaching  Carlton  from  the  Grand  Rapids,  I  was 
not  a  little  disappointed  to  find  that  Council  had  been 
held  and  the  new  Chief  Commissioner  off  to  Red  River. 
I  presume,  however,  that  he  had  reasons  of  his  own  for 
being  so  precipitate,  and  under  existing  circumstances 
I  don't  think  he  cared  much  to  meet  with  his  Inspect- 
ing Factor,  who  might  perhaps  have  told  him  some 
truths  that  he  would  not  care  to  have  recorded  on  his 
tombstone  when  he  goes  hence. 

1  Orders  for  merchandise. 


Lord  Strathcona 

When  under  the  command  of  Mr.  Smith,  I  knew 
precisely  what  duties  I  had  to  perform,  and  my  author- 
ity was  well  and  clearly  defined,  so  that  every  gentle- 
man in  that  section  of  territory  committed  to  my  super- 
vision was  aware  that  with  me  and  through  me  only 
could  any  business  be  transacted. 

I  had  heard  so  much  of  Mr.  G ,  during  his 

reign  at  Norway  House,  that  I  was  fearful  I  would  not 
be  able  to  serve  under  him  either  with  comfort  to 
myself  or  benefit  to  the  Company,  but  determined  to 
make  a  fair  trial  and  see  how  matters  would  get  on. 
The  trial  has  now  been  made,  and  has  proved  so  unsat- 
isfactory that  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  leave  the 
old  service  in  which  I  have  spent  upwards  of  thirty 
years  of  my  life,  and  have  requested  permission  to 
retire  next  first  of  June. 

For  the  large  dividends  we  have  already  received 
since  reorganization,  we  have  to  thank  a  man  of  a  very 

different  stamp  from  Mr.  G .  I  knew  at  the 

time  that  we  sustained  a  great  loss  when  Mr.  Smith 
resigned  his  position  as  Chief  Commissioner  of  the  old 
Company  we  have  all  served  in  from  boyhood,  but  I 
did  not  think  that  we  should  feel  the  effect  so  soon. 
Mr.  Smith  was  a  gentleman  in  every  sense  of  the  word, 
respected  by  his  friends  and  feared  by  his  opponents; 
for  he  has  wonderful  talents. 

I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  a  man  can  be 
thoroughly  strict  in  all  business  matters  and  still  hold 
the  respect  and  esteem  of  those  with  whom  he  is  thrown 
in  contact. 

To  Mr.  Smith  the  officers  were  wont  to  express 
their  opinions  with  great  freedom. 


An  Officer's  Pessimism 

From  Chief  Factor  W.  McMurray 

ISLE  A  LA  CROSSE,  5th  May,  1875. 

You  like  myself  have  doubtless  heard  the  opinion 
expressed  that  the  Canadian  Government,  as  far  at' 
least  as  the  North- West  Territories  are  concerned,  is 
a  failure.  What  benefit,  protection,  or  aid  do  we  poor 
devils  in  these  parts  derive  from  being  subjects  of  the 
Dominion?  If  this  country  had  belonged  to  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  since  1870,  we  would  not  find  ourselves 
to-day  in  the  position  we  are.  As  it  is,  our  isolation  is 
only  a  mild  form  of  banishment. 

With  regard  to  the  last  year's  promotions,  it  does 
certainly  look  as  if  those  who  have  "to  bear  the  heat 
and  burden  of  the  day"  are  overlooked,  and  only  those 
at  headquarters  and  prominent  places  brought  on.  In 
saying  this  I  do  not  for  a  moment  wish  to  apply  the 
remark  to  myself.  I  have  got  my  Chief  Factorship, 
and  never  expected  or  aspired  to  a  higher  grade  in  the 
service.  It  was  not  likely  that  their  Honours  would 
give  an  Inspecting  Chief  Factorship  to  one  who,  from 
the  first,  never  failed,  when  he  had  a  chance  of  doing 
so,  of  advocating  the  rights  of  the  officers  in  the  coun- 
try and  of  stating  his  opinions,  crude  as  they  may  have 
been,  in  a  plain,  straightforward  manner. 

We  get  an  occasional  glimpse  of  what  the  diffi- 
culties of  transport  were  in  the  "seventies"  before 
the  advent  of  the  railways. 

From  Chief  Trader  W.  Clark 

CARLTON,  1875. 

The  Chief  Commissioner,  his  son,  Mr.  Archibald 
McDonald,  and  Mr.  R.  Campbell,  arrived  here  on 

5 


Lord  Strathcona 

Friday  the  ninth  day  from  Fort  Garry.  The  roads 
beyond  Fort  Ellice  were  fearfully  bad,  one  continued 
swamp,  and  flies  were  in  millions  by  the  way.  Their 
second  and  third  day,  they  passed  bands  of  freighters, 
who  had  been  already  a  month  on  the  way  with  their 
loaded  teams,  and  will  be  a  month  more  before  they 
will  reach  this  far. 

Steam  navigation  of  the  rivers,  which  had  been 
introduced  during  Mr.  Smith's  regime,  offered  many 
difficulties. 


From  Chief  Factor  Alexander  Matheson 

PAS,  CUMBERLAND  DISTRICT, 
nth  January,  1875. 

I  have  sent  you,  officially,  the  whole  history  of  the 
new  river  steamer.  She  came  back  from  Carlton  all 
safe,  though  experiencing  much  more  difficulty  coming 
downstream  than  in  going  up.  It  is  a  delicate  task  to 
steer  a  huge  leviathan  like  the  Northcote  in  stony, 
crooked  rapids;  and  it  is  the  opinion  of  those  pretend- 
ing to  have  any  knowledge  of  the  subject  that  there 
can't  be  certainty  of  final  success  until  some  boulders 
or  other  obstacles  in  the  Nepowin  and  Coal  Falls 
Rapids  are  removed.  The  steamer  is  now  in  winter 
quarters  at  Grand  Rapids  with  the  captain  watching 
her,  and  putting  up  buildings  for  warehouse  purposes 
at  each  end  of  the  portage. 

Nothing  came  of  either  of  the  proposals  touched 
upon  in  the  following  letter:  — 


North-West  Territories 

Chief  Factor  Hamilton  to  Chief  Factor  MacFarlane 

CARLTON,  July,  1875.    ' 

There  is  a  report  current  that  our  old  governor,  Mr. 
Smith,  is  to  be  appointed  first  Lieu  tenant-Governor 
of  the  North-West  Territories,  but  I  am  not  prepared 
to  say  how  much  truth  there  may  be  in  the  rumour. 
One  thing  I  do  believe  and  that  is  that  the  Dominion 
Government  would  be  very  glad  to  get  hold  of  Mr. 
Smith  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  position  has 
already  been  offered  to  him. 

You  are,  I  presume,  aware  that  the  Dominion  Gov- 
ernment have  expressed  a  desire  to  get  possession  of 
the  one-twentieth  of  the  land  which  the  Company  are 
to  receive  in  the  fertile  belt  and  it  is  generally  supposed 
that  the  Premier,  Mr.  Mackenzie,  is  now  at  home  on 
that  business. 

If  the  Company  do  come  to  terms  with  the  Dominion 
Government,  I  think  it  not  at  all  unlikely  Mr.  Smith 
will  accept  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of  the  North- 
West,  but  if  not,  he  may  retain  his  position  as  the 
Company's  land  representative. 

From  Chief  Factor  A B 


EDMONTON,  24th  December,  1875. 

The  trouble  and  expense  we  have  incurred  of  late 
years  in  introducing  steam  on  the  Saskatchewan.  I 
wrote  you  in  September,  1874,  of  the  successful  trip 
made  by  the  Northcote.  I  exulted  in  the  idea  that  all 
our  trouble  was  at  an  end,  and  that  we  were  on  the  eve 
of  seeing  our  business  placed  on  a  sure  basis.  But  what 
benefit  have  we  derived  from  all  our  work  and  great 
expenditure?  It  makes  me  fairly  mad  when  I  think 

7 


Lord  Strathcona 

that,  through  the  blundering  stupidity  of  one  man, 
the  work  of  several  years  should  have  been  rendered 

fruitless.  Mr.  G has  managed,  or  rather  I 

should  say  has  grossly  mismanaged,  our  business  dur- 
ing the  past  season,  and  the  Northcote,  on  her  return 
from  Edmonton  to  the  Grand  Rapids,  had  to  lie  at 
that  place  from  the  5th  August  to  the  4th  September, 
waiting  cargo  from  Red  River.  The  consequence  was 
that  the  Northcote  could  only  make  one  trip  to  Carlton 
and  is  now  passing  the  winter  in  the  vicinity  of  that 
post.  When  a  thorough  mess  of  our  steamboat  busi- 
ness had  been  made,  Mr.  G gave  orders  for 

sending  the  western  outfits  across  land  by  way  of 
Carlton,  and  four  hundred  carts  had  to  be  at  once 
engaged  for  that  purpose,  which  cost  the  Company  a 
pretty  sum.  This,  however,  is  but  one  item  of  the 
expense  and  loss  which  the  trade  must  sustain.  For  in- 
stance, the  residue  of  the  outfit  for  the  post  of  Edmon- 
ton will  cost  a  big  amount  for  freight  up  from  Carlton 
at  this  season,  as  men  cannot  be  induced  to  travel 
under  double  the  usual  freight  price. 

Mr.  Hardisty  had  an  examination  made  last  summer 
of  the  country  lying  between  here  and  the  elbow  of 
the  Athabasca  River,  when,  I  am  happy  to  say,  an 
excellent  route  for  a  cart  road  was  discovered. 

When  I  left  Slave  Lake,  Mr.  Young  was  on  the 
point  of  starting  for  the  Peace  River  for  the  purpose 
of  searching  for  a  cart  route  through  that  section. 

Mr.  Smith  himself  could  sympathize  with  the 
laudator  temporis  acti  spirit  amongst  the  older 
adventurers. 


8 


Former  Trading  recalled 

From  Chief  Factor  Robert  Campbell 

FORT  GARRY,  7th  March,  1876. 

I  do  not  at  all  concur  with 's  opinion  that  the 

Company  (in  our  time)  have  underpaid  the  Indians 
and  that  a  curse  is  now  falling  on  the  Company.  The 
Indians  will  never  be  so  well  off,  comfortable,  or  happy, 
as  when  under  the  Company's  care  and  trading  alone. 
There  never  will  be  again  such  men  and  Indians  for 
vigour,  ability,  and  ready  obedience  for  every  duty, 
service,  and  instruction  in  Mackenzie  River  and 
Athabasca  as  they  were  before  the  introduction  of 
such  trash  among  them,  and  the  men  [servants]  all 
saved  their  hard  earnings  for  the  future  rainy  days. 

It  was  a  treat  to  see  men  work  on  the  passage  in 
those  days.  All  strong,  healthy,  and  active,  and  at 
camping  or  meal  times,  not  a  tea-kettle  was  seen  on 
the  fire  but  the  "  Master's."  They  were  happier,  more 
contented,  and  healthy  with  their  one  or  two  pounds 
of  tea  per  annum  than  now  if  they  had  a  whole  chest 
of  tea  each. 

A  new  grade  —  that  of  "Inspecting  Chief  Fac- 
tor"—  had  been  introduced:  — 

From  Chief  Factor  W.  McMurray l 

ISLE  A  LA  CROSSE,  3d  April,  1876. 

You  will  be  surprised  to  learn  that  I  have  not  yet 
signed  the  covenant  and  am  therefore  not  virtually  an 
Inspecting  Chief  Factor.  I  wrote  the  Chief  Commis- 

1  Mr.  McMurray  was  famous  for  his  facility  in  the  Saulteau  and 
Chipewyan  languages.  He  was  also  an  excellent  shot  and  among 
the  most  experienced  winter  travellers  of  his  time. 

9 


Lord  Strathcona 

sioner,  both  officially  and  under  private  cover,  thank- 
ing him  and  the  Honourable  Board  for  their  proof  of 
their  confidence  in  me,  but  at  the  same  time  informed 
the  Chief  Commissioner  that  I  would  sign  the  cove- 
nant only  after  I  had  met  him  at  Carlton,  and  received 
from  him  the  proper  explanations  regarding  several 
matters  connected  with  the  position  of  Inspecting 
Chief  Factor. 

You  who  know  me  are  aware  that  I  am  not  an  arro- 
gant or  dictatorial  person,  nor  one  likely  to  make  an 
abuse  of  any  little  power  that  may  be  given  me;  on 
the  other  hand,  you  will,  I  think,  admit  that  I  have 
enough  of  self-esteem  and  manly  pride  (not  vanity) 
not  to  allow  myself  to  be  placed  in  a  false  position.  The 
position  of  Inspecting  Chief  Factor  may,  by  some,  be 
considered  a  great  honour,  but  for  me,  it  never  had,  and 
never  will  have,  any  attraction,  unless  the  grade  gives 
me  some  discretionary  powers,  and  thereby  enables 
me  to  do  some  good. 

There  is  a  touch  of  pathos  in  the  following:  — 

From  Chief  Factor  Robert  Hamilton 

CARLTON,  29th  May,  1876. 

A  very  few  days  more  and  my  connection  with  the 
concern  in  which  the  greatest  part  of  my  life  has  been 
spent  will  have  ceased,  but  believe  me,  that  whatever 
my  lot  may  be  in  future,  I  shall  always  feel  a  deep 
interest  in  the  Company  in  which  I  have  spent  so 
many  happy  days,  and  in  which  I  leave  behind  so 
many  esteemed  and  valued  friends.  Between  you  and 
me  there  has  been  no  cloud  during  a  friendship  of  over 
thirty  years. 

10 


Fur-Traders'  Letters 

It  is  pleasant  to  add  that  this  officer  was  per- 
suaded to  remain  for  a  few  seasons  longer  in  the 
service. 

To  Chief  Factor  William  Charles 

23d  August,  1876. 

The  following  is  the  result  of  the  Company's  sale  in 
London  the  other  day.  Do  not  let  the  foxes  slip  from 
you  and  I  would  give  your  outposts  instructions  to 
that  effect,  especially  at  Eraser's  Lake  and  Babines. 

Sale,  August,  1876,  as  compared  with  the  sale  for 
Outfit,  1875:  — 


Beavers            decli 
Musquash 
Marten 
Mink 
And  Otter             advar 
Silver  Foxes 
Foxes  Cross           ' 

.   15 

.    25 

ced  

.    5O 

.    25 

Bear  and  Lynx  remained  unchanged  and  I  presume 
those  other  furs  not  mentioned. 

From  K.  McDonald 

RAMPART  HOUSE,  loth  January,  1877. 

In  my  last  letter  to  you  I  said  that  I  hoped  to  be 
able  to^tell  you  more  about  the  American  fur-traders 
on  the  Yukon  when  I  next  wrote  you.  Instead  of 
abandoning  the  Yukon,  they  seem  determined  to  carry 
on  the  trade  more  vigorously  than  ever.  Mr.  McQuestin 
and  McNiff  are  still  at  Fort  Yukon  and  Mayo  is  at 
the  post  up  the  river  occupied  by  McQuestin  two 
years  ago.  They  have  a  better  supply  of  goods  than 
ever  and  have  raised  the  prices  of  furs;  e.g.,  15  M.B.1 
1  Made  (i.e.,  dressed)  beaver. 
II 


Lord  Strathcona 

for  a  black  fox,  10  for  a  cross  fox,  3  for  a  marten,  and 
2  for  a  beaver.  A  great  deal  is  given  away  gratis  to  the 
Indians.  To  the  chiefs  100  M.B.  is  given  gratis,  and 
in  addition,  tea,  flour,  ammunition,  and  tobacco. 
McQuestin  had  runners  among  some  of  the  Indians 
before  the  snow  fell  and  he  himself  was  out  amongst 
them  in  the  month  of  November,  but  the  Indians 
proved  staunch  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
traded  none  of  their  furs  with  him. 

The  wintering  partners  came  slowly,  but  surely, 
to  realize  that  they  had  been  for  a  second  time  used 
as  a  cat's-paw  for  what  the  writer  of  the  next  letter 
calls  a  "crowd  of  grasping,  howling  shareholders." 
But  what  could  they  do?  One  of  the  ablest  of  the 
Chief  Factors,  Roderick  MacFarlane,  had  come 
boldly  forward  with  a  plan  for  an  equal  division  of 
profits  with  the  London  capitalists.  Alas,  it  was 
too  late!  Besides,  still  reasoned  many  of  the  veter- 
ans, what  was  the  good  of  lands  —  even  in  such 
a  centre  as  Winnipeg?  The  opinion  of  such  a  vet- 
eran as  Chief  Factor  W.  L.  Christie  is  illuminat- 
ing:— 

From  Chief  Factor  Christie 

FORT  GARRY,,  I3th  January,  1877. 

The  wintering  partners  have  actually  had  no  power 
since  1872.  These  lands  are  wonderful  things  on  paper, 
I  dare  say;  but  I  know  that  the  most  valuable  part  of 
the  Fort  Garry  reserve  has  been  a  loss  so  far,  eating 
itself  up  with  taxes.  There  is  a  dead  set  against  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  they  will  eventually  be 
taxed  out  of  the  country.  What  do  you  think  of  the 

12 


THE  LEADING  WINTERING  PARTNERS  OF  THE 
HUDSON'S   BAY  COMPANY,    i87I-78 


Company's  Profits  dwindle 

assessment  of  Fort  Garry  trade  goods  only  being 
placed  at  $350,000.  They  place  our  inventories  at 
what  value  they  choose  and  we  have  no  appeal.  The 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  cannot  gain  a  case  in  the 
courts  here  because  the  Chief  Justice  is  against  them ; 
the  result  is  we  support  the  corporation  with  our  taxes. 
We  are  the  only  moneyed  institution  to-day  and  con- 
sequently the  only  ones  who  pay. 

I  look  now  for  no  future  in  this  service.  It  is  too 
overburdened  with  capital,  and  profits  seem  to  be  on 
the  decrease  from  opposition  and  other  causes.  An 
increase  of  the  capital  of  the  Company  is  under  consid- 
eration. This  looks  rather  bad,  for  the  same  profits 
will  have  only  to  be  divided  between  a  greater  number 
and  consequently  less  per  cent  for  each.  Of  course  this 
only  affects  the  shareholders,  but  must  eventually 
make  itself  felt  on  the  whole  business.  Expenditures 
are  increasing  enormously,  and  these  steamers  are 
enough  to  sink  any  concern.  Added  to  this  the  small- 
pox now  raging  around  Lake  Winnipeg,  among  the 
Indians  and  Icelanders,  will  prevent  whatever  furs  are 
collected  in  that  quarter  from  being  shipped  next 
season.  Then  the  Labrador  ship  with  full  cargo  has 
been  wrecked  and  all  hands  lost,  save  one  sailor.  These 
adversities  are  all  telling  on  the  profits.  I  probably 
take  a  rather  gloomy  view  of  it  all;  still  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  old  machine  is  getting  a  little  unhinged. 
Of  course,  a  company  trading  for  two  hundred  years 
and  making  profits  and  paying  its  shareholders  regu- 
larly a  good  interest  cannot  be  thrown  out  of  gear  for 
some  time;  but  gradually  symptoms  of  decay  show 
themselves,  which  eventually  disorganize  the  whole 
body. 


Lord  Strathcona 

There  certainly  was  a  crisis  in  the  fur-trade  and 
some  of  the  leading  officers  again  threatened  to  band 
themselves  together  to  fight  the  London  Company. 


From  the  Honourable  D.  A .  Smith,  M.P. 

FORT  GARRY,  2ist  September,  1877. 

Try  and  reduce  your  expenses,  follow  up  an  econom- 
ical system  of  trade,  and  do  not  buy  furs  in  Athabasca 
at  a  higher  price  than  they  are  realizing  in  England, 
or  any  market  in  Europe.  The  price  of  furs  is  still  fall- 
ing at  home,  but  I  have  great  hopes  that  they  will  rise 
soon.  I  expect  to  be  in  London  to  the  November  meet- 
ing of  the  shareholders  and  will  do  all  I  can  for  my 
friends  in  the  North.  I  intend  to  have  a  talk  and  ex- 
plain matters  to  the  directors. 


From  Chief  Factor  William  Charles 

VICTORIA,  B.C.,  3ist  October,  1877. 

I  have  just  heard  of  the  result  of  the  Company's 
last  sales  in  August.  What  are  we  coming  to?  I  do  not 
think  the  fur-trade  can  ever  go  back  to  what  it  was  a 
few  years  since.  We  cannot  go  on  receiving  nothing 
for  our  pay  year  after  year.  Unless  matters  mend,  it 
would  be  as  well  for  us  to  be  either  placed  on  the 
retired  list  or  leave  at  once. 

I  have  such  a  load  of  responsibility.  However,  the 
old  can  die,  which  will  make  room  for  those  that  re- 
main. 

The  best  paying  branch  of  our  business  over  here  is 
the  steamer  Enterprise,  plying  between  Victoria  and 
New  Westminster.  She  has  been  clearing  for  some 

14 


He  again  intervenes 

years  back,  about  £20,000  per  annum.  The  trade  is 
increasing  and  another  boat  is  required  to  retain  the 
trade  and  do  the  business.  Hence  a  difficulty  between 
us  here  and  the  London  people,  who  do  not  wish  to 
augment  their  capital.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  don't 
do  something  to  help  ourselves,  others  will.  The  public 
are  clamouring  for  a  better  boat  for  winter  especially, 
and  so  the  matter  stands.  There  is  every  possibility 
that  the  Cariboo  country  will  come  rightside-up  in  her 
quartz-crushing  developments,  several  of  them  turn- 
ing out  very  rich  lately.  Our  Factor,  Mr.  Ross,  writes: 
"The  quartz  here  reports  rich  from  $12.75  to  $9°  Per 
ton.  We  may  expect  lively  times  here  as  soon  as  crush- 
ing machinery  goes  to  work,  owing  to  the  people  here 
being  so  scarce  of  cash.  It  will  I  think  take  all  next 
summer  to  get  the  first  mill  to  work.  Quartz  is  all  the 
talk  here.  Harper,  the  Government  expert,  says  we 
have  the  richest  country  in  the  world  here.  We  must 
wait  a  while  to  see." 

Mr.  Smith  himself  continued  little  satisfied  but 
unable  to  achieve  much  for  his  late  colleagues:  — 

To  Chief  Factor  Rankin 

MONTREAL,  2d  January,  1878. 

I  go  to  England  next  week,  and  while  there  will 
likely  see  the  members  of  the  Board,  who  I  have  no 
doubt,  having  the  interests  of  the  shareholders  and 
officers  at  heart,  will  consent  to  make  such  arrange- 
ments as  will  place  the  business  on  a  more  satisfactory 
footing  in  respect  of  emoluments  than  it  has  been  since 
Outfit  1874. 


Lord  Strathcona 

From  Chief  Factor  Alexander  Matheson 

GRAND  RAPIDS,  loth  January,  1878. 

The  letter  advising  us  of  the  Board's  makeshift 
scheme  for  tiding  over  the  crisis  temporarily  is  respect- 
fully acknowledged,  and  referred  for  our  answer  to  our 
attorneys.  Now  is  the  opportunity  we  have  been  wait- 
ing for  so  long,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  we  shall  all  prove 
faithful  to  ourselves.  The  alarm  of  the  Board  indicated 
by  the  proposals  set  forth  in  the  Chief  Commissioner's 
letter  of  the  i8th  of  December  shows  that  we  have  only 
to  keep  together  to  insure  entire  success,  and  I  hope 
all  in  the  North  are  animated  by  the  same  spirit  which 
moves  us. 

To  Mr.  Smith  all  the  wintering  partners  again 
turned  to  negotiate  some  more  satisfactory  terms 
with  the  London  shareholders  "calling  themselves 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company." 

From  Chief  Factor  Campbell 

CARLTON  HOUSE,  7th  July,  1878. 

I  wish  with  all  my  heart  that  Governor  Goschen,  all 
the  Directors  and  shareholders  had  gone  through  the 
same  ordeal  in  all  its  parts.  It  would  give  them  a  better 
idea  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  fur-trade  affairs 
than  all  that  is,  or  can  be,  written  on  the  subject. 
I  concur  in  what  you  say  on  the  present  suppressed 
state  of  Hudson's  Bay  affairs.  I  wish  I  could  see  the 
remedy,  or  turn  of  affairs  for  the  better  as  clearly  "  cer- 
tain"; as  you  say,  "things  can't  go  on  much  longer 
this  way." 

16 


General  Financial  Depression 

To  an  old  friend  who  had  done  him  a  favour,  of 
which  many  another  would  have  made  lightly 
enough,  Mr.  Smith  wrote:  — 

To  Chief  Factor  MacFarlane 

MONTREAL,  26th  December,  1878. 

Greatly  as  I  am  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind  atten- 
tion I  feel  that  you  have  done  so  much  for  me  in  this 
way  on  former  occasions,  and  I  am  already  so  deeply 
indebted  to  you,  that  I  really  do  not  know  how  I  can 
ever  possibly  repay  you,  but  believe  at  any  rate  that 
I  am  very  sensible  of  all  your  kindness  and  trust  an 
opportunity  may  occur  by  which  I  may  be  enabled  to 
give  more  expression  to  it  than  it  is  now  in  my  power 
to  do. 

You  will  hear  with  much  regret  of  the  failure  of 
City  of  Glasgow  Bank,  bringing  down  with  it  the 
Caledonian  Bank,  and  involving  in  misery  and  ruin 
many  of  the  shareholders  of  both  banks.  A  more  sad 
affair  than  any  that  has  happened  in  Scotland  for 
many  a  long  day.  And  in  England  they  have  also  had 
a  bad  failure  in  the  West  of  England  and  South  Wales 
Bank,  so  you  see  they  are  at  home  suffering  more,  far 
more,  indeed,  than  we  do,  although  with  us  it  is  bad 
enough,  as  the  dividends  on  all  bank  stocks  have 
recently  been  greatly  diminished  and  the  value  of  the 
shares  have  latterly  run  down  tremendously  in  some 
cases,  but  it  is  a  consolation  to  us  that  as  regards  banks 
of  Montreal  and  Toronto,  the  capital  at  least  is  safe. 

There  is  not  one  man  in  ten,  aye,  or  in  fifty  here  or 
in  Canada  generally,  who  is  not  very  much  poorer  now 
than  eighteen  months  back  from  the  shrinkage  in 
stocks  and  in  investments  generally,  but  this  is  not 

17 


Lord  Strathcona 

confined  to  Canada,  nor  to  this  continent,  but  is  com- 
mon to  Europe,  and  I  may  say,  every  civilized  country. 
Hudson's  Bay  business,  of  course,  suffers  also,  and 
unless  something  can  be  done  for  its  future  than 
merely  the  prosecution  of  the  fur-trade,  I  fear  not  a 
great  deal  can  be  expected  from  it  even  when  we  have, 
if  we  are  at  all  to  have,  a  revival  of  general  business. 

You  do  me  more  than  justice  in  expressing  your 
conviction  that  I  would  gladly  do  anything  I  could  for 
my  old  friends  of  the  fur- trade;  and  it  is  only  reason- 
able to  believe  that  Mr. would  also  do  his  part 

in  a  cause  which  is  that  of  both  shareholder  and  officer 
and  whose  interests  must  be  held  to  be  identical.  I  am 
glad  to  learn  that  your  returns,  though  not  equal  to 
those  of  last  year,  are  still  a  good  average,  and  if  good 
prices  could  be  only  obtained  the  result  might  be  a 
tolerably  fair  one  after  all. 

I  saw  William  L.Hardisty  in  Winnipeg  the  other  day. 
He  intends,  I  believe,  settling  down  at  Lachine  next 
spring  and  will  spend  the  present  winter  at  my  place 
at  Silver  Heights. 

It  is  my  intention  to  take  passage  for  England  either 
on  the  4th  or  I  ith  January,  if  possible  the  earlier  date, 
returning  to  Montreal  early  in  February,  as  I  have  to 
be  in  Ottawa  for  the  Session. 


From  Chief  Factor  K.  McDonald 

RAMPART  HOUSE,  22d  December,  1878. 

The  American  traders  seem  determined  to  carry  on 
the  fur-trade  on  the  Yukon,  although  they  must  be 
making  very  little  out  of  it.  They  still  give  very  high 
prices  for  furs,  in  fact,  just  double  what  is  given  here. 
Old  Sinati,  the  Yukon  chief,  whom  you  have  perhaps 

18 


Obtains  Important  Concessions 

heard  of,  is  in  charge  of  Fort  Yukon  and  is  carrying  it 
with  a  high  hand.  The  old  fellow  has  a  good  deal  of 
influence  among  the  Indians  and  may  do  more  in  with- 
drawing these  from  this  place  than  any  of  his  prede- 
cessors. 

McQuestin  is  up  the  Yukon  among  the  Gens  du 
Bois  and  Gens  des  Fous.  Considering  the  lowering  off 
of  the  prices  here  and  the  high  ones  the  Americans  are 
giving  for  furs,  it  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  the 
Yukon  Indians  and  the  Gens  des  Fous  will  give  us 
their  furs  as  before.  I,  however,  managed  to  keep  the 
other  three  tribes  more  immediately  connected  with 
this  post  and  hope  that  they  will  do  well.  Fur- 
bearing  animals  are  becoming  very  scarce  and  unfor- 
tunately, where  there  are  a  few  martens,  the  Indians 
this  year,  as  well  as  last,  find  it  impossible  to  procure 
a  living  to  enable  them  to  trap,  owing  to  the  deer  keep- 
ing to  the  mountains. 

In  that  winter  Mr.  Smith  managed  to  procure 
some  important  concessions  from  the  Board :  — 


To  Chief  Factor  Rankin 

MONTREAL,  i6th  May,  1879. 

It  is  quite  cheering  to  hear  from  you  that  the  exports 
from  your  inland  posts  speak  so  favourably  of  the 
prospects  of  trade,  and  my  hearty  wish  is  that  your 
best  expectations  may  be  realized  and  that  prices  may 
not  only  keep  up  but  materially  improve  in  the  home 
markets,  so  that  the  commissioned  officers  may  fare 
better  than  with  the  guarantee,  which,  however,  with 
the  other  concessions  made  by  the  Board  in  the  negotia- 
tions I  had  with  them,  I  think  with  you  is  all  that  could 

19 


Lord  Strathcona 

reasonably  be  expected  under  the  circumstances,  and 
I  trust  all  the  other  officers  may  regard  it  in  the  same 
light,  and  heartily  concur  in  it. 

His  growing  railway  enterprises,  of  which  we  shall 
shortly  hear,  made  his  further  tenure  of  the  Land 
Commissionership  impracticable. 

To  Chief  Factor  McMurray 

MONTREAL,  i6th  May,  1879. 

I  am  now  leaving  for  Fort  Garry,  to  see  about  the 
land  matters  with  Mr.  Brydges,  who,  as  you  know,  will 
soon  be  assuming  the  immediate  charge  of  that  de- 
partment, thus  relieving  me  of  what  it  has  latterly 
been  impossible  for  me  to  continue  to  attend  to  with 
even  ordinary  regard  for  my  own  personal  interests. 
We  have  also  now  got  our  St.  Paul  and  Pacific  Railway 
into  that  shape  that  it  is  to  be  reorganized  on  the  23d 
instant,  and  this  makes  absolutely  necessary  my  pres- 
ence at  St.  Paul  on  that  day.  Everything  goes  well 
with  this  road,  far  exceeding  our  highest  expectations 
when  we  took  hold  of  it.  I  mention  this,  as  I  am  sure 
you  will  be  glad  to  know  it. 

A  retired  officer  speaks  thus  of  the  growing  value 
of  the  land  since  the  completion  of  the  St.  Paul  and 
Manitoba  Railway. 

From  Chief  Factor  Roderick  McKenzie 

MELBOURNE,  QUE.,  I4th  December,  1879. 

I  am  glad  to  learn  that  brighter  prospects  are  begin- 
ning to  dawn  now  after  the  late  years  of  depression  and 
disappointment.  The  service  is  going  through  such 

20 


Difficulties  of  Intervention 

rapid  changes  that  old  hands  hardly  know  many  of  the 
names  figuring  among  the  staff.  The  last  appointment 
has  bridged  over  the  chasm  of  oblivion.  It  was  a 
grand  dodge  for  the  wily  wolves  to  have  bound  and 
gagged  the  simple-minded  commissioned  officers  of 
1869-70,  to  have  signed  their  own  death-warrant,  in 
regard  to  the  land  interest.  The  fertile  lands  in  the 
North-West  will  be  a  source  of  riches  to  the  neophytes 
for  years  to  come. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  Mr.  Smith  had  again 
intervened  between  the  Board  and  the  officers:  — 


To  Chief  Factor  MacFarlane 

MONTREAL,  23d  June,  1880. 

I  quite  sympathize  with  you  when  you  complain  of 
having  to  pay  quite  heavy  duties,  and  my  voice  has 
invariably  been  heard  in  opposition  to  such,  and  I  am 
very  hopeful  that  we  may  after  a  little  time  be  some- 
what relieved  from  this  burden.  My  efforts  in  that 
direction  will  at  any  rate  not  be  unused.  Meantime,  I 
fear  that  any  such  representation  as  you  suggest  to 
the  Government  would  have  no  good  result,  and  the 
missionaries  as  compared  with  the  Company's  officers 
by  you  will  continue  to  have  the  worst  of  it. 

Your  approval  of  the  result  of  my  negotiations  on 
behalf  of  yourself  and  your  colleagues  with  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Committee  during  the  winter  of  1879,  I  am 
glad  to  be  informed  of,  although  I  apprehend  very  few 
of  the  officers  had  any  correct  idea  of  the  great  diffi- 
culties I  had  to  contend  with  in  undertaking  the  task, 
and  certainly  I  would  not  have  done  so  but  for  the 
very  warm  interest  I  have  always  felt  in  those  who  for 

21 


Lord  Strathcona 

many  years  were  my  confreres,  and  whose  untiring 
exertions  in  the  general  interest  I  was  and  am  so  fully 
cognizant  of. 

There  never  could  have  been  any  intention  on  the 
part  of  the  Committee  to  make  a  victim  of  any  of  those 
who  joined  in  the  representations  which  induced  me 
to  act  for  the  officers  in  London,  as  I  had  come  fully 
provided  that  nothing  of  the  kind  could  possibly  be 
attempted;  and  I  will  on  this  subject  only  add  that 
while  in  future  negotiation  with  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  the  officers  may  and  no  doubt  will  find  re- 
presentation infinitely  more  able,  they  cannot  find  one 
having  their  best  interests  more  at  heart  than  myself. 

I  was  sorry  to  hear  that  provisions  had  been  so 
scarce  in  your  district  last  winter,  which  must  have 
brought  great  suffering  to  the  poor  Indians.  Let  me 
thank  you  for  your  good  wishes  in  respect  of  the  rail- 
way in  which  I  am  interested,  and  am  glad  to  say  it 
continues  to  go  well. 

It  will  afford  me  much  pleasure  to  hear  from  you  as 
opportunity  may  offer,  and  as  I  am  now  gradually 
reducing  the  amount  of  personal  work  to  which  my 
attention  has  been  given,  I  shall  be  glad  to  write  you 
from  time  to  time  at  greater  length  and  always  to  be 
of  use  to  you  in  any  way  in  which  I  can. 

We  get  further  glimpses  of  the  American  "free- 
traders" in  the  Far  North,  in  the  following  letters : — 


From  Chief  Factor  K.  McDonald 

FORT  SIMPSON,  5th  September,  1880. 

I  am  sorry  to  learn  there  is  opposition  in  the  fur- 
trade  at  Athabasca  again  this  year.    At  Rampart 

22 


American  "Free-Traders" 

House  the  opposition  instead  of  falling  off  is  getting 
stronger.  The  two  companies  of  American  fur-traders 
in  the  Yukon  are  opposing  each  other  very  strongly. 
In  spring  at  old  Yukon,  they  put  up  martens  to  5  M.B., 
beaver  3,  foxes  12  to  15,  black  foxes  30,  and  bears  8  to 
IO.  One  company  speaks  of  sending  up  some  one  to 
establish  a  post  alongside  of  Rampart  House  this  sum- 
mer, and  on  my  return  in  the  fall  I  fully  expect  to  find 
some  one  close  to  the  fort,  prepared  to  withstand  me 
to  the  death.  However,  notwithstanding  the  odds 
against  me,  I  think  that  their  trade  won't  amount  to 
much.  Martens  are  still  scarce,  but  the  Indians,  from 
the  packs  they  saw  in  spring,  hoped  that  they  would 
be  more  numerous  next  winter.  I  hope  such  will  be 
the  case,  for  I  am  pretty  well  discouraged  with  the 
scarcity  of  furs  for  the  last  three  years. 

RAMPART  HOUSE,  soth  December,  1880. 

I  am  sorry  that  I  have  no  cheerful  news  to  tell  you 
of  the  fur-trade  down  here.  The  opposition  from  the 
Americans  is  still  kept  up  as  strong  as  ever,  and  I  fear 
some  of  the  Indians  are  beginning  to  be  turned  towards 
it.  The  excitement  produced  does  not  tend  to  have  a 
beneficial  effect  upon  the  Indians,  for  the  trade  of  the 
Americans  is  so  reckless  and  so  much  given  gratis  that 
some  of  the  Indians  are  becoming  indolent  and  others 
dishonest.  As  far  as  I  can  gather,  at  all  the  posts  occu- 
pied by  the  Americans  on  the  Yukon,  the  Indians  seem 
to  be  rapidly  degenerating  from  the  same  reason  experi- 
enced at  home,  I  suppose,  that  charity  has  a  tendency 
to  produce  paupers. 

The  majority  of  the  Indians  here,  however,  are  still 
staunch  to  the  old  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  It  is  sur- 
prising that  any  of  them  prefer  trading  here,  consider- 

23 


Lord  Strathcona 

ing  the  incomparably  better  trade  they  could  make 
with  the  Americans  —  furs  at  more  than  double  and 
goods  at  half  the  price.  A  reason  may  be  found  in  the 
fact,  that  the  Indians  suspect  that  if  this  place  be 
abandoned,  they  won't  be  so  well  off,  for  the  Yankee 
traders  are  simple  enough  to  tell  them  so.  Yet  we 
reflect  that  the  Indians  were  never  noted  for  pro- 
viding for  the  future. 

RAMPART  HOUSE,  January  ist,  1881. 

Jimmy  Barber  is  now  a  free-trader  and  he  thinks 
himself  quite  a  bourgeois.  He  went  to  the  Yukon  again 
in  summer  and  brought  a  good  deal  of  trading  goods 
given  him  by  McQuestin.  He  built  a  small  house 
between  this  and  La  Pierre  House  in  fall  and  intends 
doing  his  level  best,  as  the  Yankee  would  say.  Half 
fool  as  he  is,  he  managed  to  get  a  good  many  furs  last 
winter  from  the  Peel  River  Indians.  He  has  made 
nothing  of  our  Indians  here  yet,  but  it  is  possible  he 
may  get  a  skin  or  two  from  them  this  winter. 

A  nephew  of  old  Sinati,  Yukon  chief,  is  opposing  me 
here.  He  is  staying  in  a  small  house  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river.  He  is  a  great  scamp  and  worthy  of 
his  uncle.  I  had  a  talk  with  him  in  fall  and  he  promised 
faithfully  to  give  me  whatever  furs  he  trapped  or 
traded.  Having  thus  put  me  off  my  guard,  he  traded 
on  the  sly  and  with  the  furs  he  set  off  to  the  Yukon. 
On  his  return,  when  taxed  with  his  perfidy,  he  was  in 
no  wise  abashed,  but  seemed  to  think  himself  a  pretty 
smart  fellow.  Such  conduct  annoys  one,  but  I  hope 
he  is  an  exception. 

We  learn  a  great  deal  of  a  certain  Russian  Jew 
trader  named  Boscowitz,  who  led  the  Company's 
men  a  pretty  dance  thirty  or  forty  years  since. 

24 


The  Splendid  Boscowitz 

William  Charles  writes  from  British  Columbia, 
in  December,  1880:  — 

That  Boscowitz  man  bids  for  grandeur  just  to  have 
the  furs,  and  must  lose  a  lot  of  money  on  some  kinds 
of  fur  if  he  makes  it  on  others.  Boscowitz  himself  now 
lives  in  London,  attends  the  Company's  autumn  and 
other  sales,  and  has  grown  wealthy  since  he  left  this 
country.  His  locum  tenens  here  is  a  German  peer,  a 
common-looking,  illiterate  boor;  but  he  is  too  much 
for  us  all  the  same.  He  has  a  better  salary  than  I  have 
and  can  afford  to  give  champagne  to  almost  every  one 
that  is  in  the  way  of  procuring  furs.  The  other  man, 
Lubbe,  is  a  German,  a  well-educated  man  and  a  gentle- 
man; he  is  backed  by  Sir  Curtis  Lampson.1  I  have 
secured  very  few  lots  in  consequence  of  the  extraordi- 
nary prices  that  have  been  paid  occasionally,  for  pure 
devilment.  I  double  my  bids  to  get  a  lot  or  two,  when 
they  go  much  better  next  time.  I  expend  a  deal  of 
energy  in  this  business.  The  proper  price  for  beaver 
now  should  be  $2.50  per  hundred  for  number  one. 

A  few  years  later  it  is  a  roving  free- trading  adven- 
turer named  Sylvester  buying  gold-dust  from  the 
Alaskan  miners  as  well  as  furs:  — 

From  Chief  Factor  K.  McDonald 

FORT  SIMPSON,  7th  March,  1887. 

I  came  to  this  place  by  steamer,  and,  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  way,  the  route  lay  among  islands  of  pic- 
turesque beauty,  along  the  coast.    The  distance  is 
about  540  miles  and  I  arrived  here  on  the  2d  instant, 
and  having  made  myself  acquainted  with  the  place  and 
1  Sir  Curtis  Lampson  was  now  out  of  the  Company. 
25 


Lord  Strathcona 

its  surroundings,  have  been  obtaining  all  the  informa- 
tion possible  regarding  the  trade  on  Chase  Lake  and 
River.  There  is  a  very  strong  opposition  up  there. 
Mr.  Sylvester  is  the  chief  trader  in  that  section  of  the 
country,  and  last  year  imported  about  fifty-five  tons 
of  goods  for  the  trade.  He  deals  in  gold-dust  from  the 
miners  as  well  as  in  furs.  His  returns  in  furs  alone 
amount  to  about  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  yearly, 
and  he  takes  out  quite  a  sum  in  gold-dust  besides.  He 
is  a  very  generous  man,  an  extravagant  trader,  and  is 
very  popular  among  the  whites  and  Indians,  and  is, 
moreover,  a  man  of  considerable  means.  I  am  going 
in  with  about  twenty-five  hundred  dollars'  worth  of 
goods,  and  I  feel  that,  with  such  a  formidable  oppo- 
nent, I  am  in  no  position  to  successfully  compete  with 
him.  He  is  a  wealthy  man  and  can  oppose  us  very 
strongly  and  is  stubborn  enough  to  do  so  perhaps  for 
years.  He  sells  the  greater  part  of  his  furs  in  Victoria, 
and  it  is,  I  dare  say,  the  best  market  to-day.  At  any 
rate,  furs  are  sold  in  Victoria  at  an  average  of  fifteen 
per  cent  over  what  they  bring  at  the  London  sales  and 
he  consequently  is  in  a  position  to  pay  higher  prices 
for  them  than  we  can. 

He  is  also  a  close  buyer  in  goods,  going  yearly  to 
New  York,  Montreal,  Victoria,  and  other  places  to 
make  his  purchases.  His  stock  on  hand  after  the  year's 
trade  is  over  is  about  ten  thousand  dollars  and  it  is 
good,  saleable  goods.  I  cannot  understand  why  the 
Company  do  not  put  their  furs  on  the  market  in 
Victoria;  that  is,  the  furs  obtained  in  this  quarter. 
They  could  sell  much  higher  than  they  could  do  in 
London,  and  save  freight  besides.  Some  people  cannot 
understand  how  it  is  that  the  Company  have  had  to 
abandon  so  many  posts  along  this  coast  and  in  the 

26 


Buying  out  Sylvester 

interior.  The  reason  is  simple.  The  Company's  trad- 
ers have  their  hands  tied  by  a  tariff,  and  the  sales  are 
by  no  means  the  best  that  can  be  made,  for  an  auction 
always  means  a  sacrifice.  I  have  suggested  that  Syl- 
vester be  bought  out.  I  am  satisfied  he  would  sell  out 
for  twelve  thousand  dollars.  In  that  event,  the  Com- 
pany would  have  his  posts  and  would  control  the  whole 
of  the  fur-trade  in  that  quarter.  Only  let  us  get 
Sylvester's  posts  and  they  could  defy  any  party  who 
might  undertake  to  oppose  them.  I  know  it  is  said 
that  the  buying-out  principle  is  a  wrong  one,  but  this 
is  an  exploded  idea.  It  was  all  well  enough  when  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  in  a  position  to  freeze 
out  a  party,  but  times  have  changed.  I  would  also 
strongly  recommend  having  a  steamer  of  our  own, 
which  could  be  used  the  whole  season  on  the  Skeena 
and  Stickeen.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  a  steamer 
of  thirty  tons  at  a  cost  of  seven  thousand  dollars  could 
be  made  to  pay  for  herself  in  two  years.  At  present 
the  Company  are  paying  heavy  rates  for  their  freight. 
With  our  own  steamer  we  could  secure  a  good  part  of 
the  freighting  for  mines,  and  also  obtain  the  trade 
with  them,  which  is  quite  an  item. 

From  Factor  D.  Laird 

BATTLEFORD,  8th  July,  1881. 

I  observe  what  you  say  about  destitution  among  the 
Northern  Indians.  The  Government  at  Ottawa  should 
certainly  do  something  for  them.  Bishop  Bompas 
called  my  attention  to  the  matter  last  autumn  by  let- 
ter and  I  forwarded  his  representations  with  a  recom- 
mendation to  Ottawa.  Whether  they  will  do  anything 
or  not,  soon,  I  cannot  say.  This  winter  they  have 
been  busy  handing  over  the  country  —  well,  a  great 

27 


Lord  Strathcona 

part  of  it  —  to  the  railway  syndicate.  It  was  scarcely 
worth  their  while  to  pay  so  much  to  one  monopoly  to 
get  the  country  if  they  were  going  to  give  so  much  to 
another  to  take  it  off  their  hands,  but  this  is  almost 
political,  and  Lieutenant-Governors  have  no  politics 
by  right. 

I  dare  say  there  is  much  truth  in  what  you  say  with 
regard  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  the  extreme 
North.  Probably  if  they  were  protected  in  their  trade, 
and  entrusted  with  the  care  of  the  Indians  in  those 
parts  of  the  country  useful  for  settlement,  it  would  be 
best  for  all  parties.  But  I  doubt  whether  the  Canadian 
Parliament  would  consent  to  such  an  arrangement. 
But  as  protection  is  a  policy  now  somewhat  in  the 
ascendant  in  Ottawa,  the  Company  might  succeed  on 
application  to  have  the  National  Policy  extended  to 
the  fur-trade. 

From  Chief  Factor  C D 


STUART'S  LAKE,  3Oth  September,  1881. 

The  statement  of  dividends  for  fifty  years  shows 
that  we  are  very  much  underpaid,  and  the  Board  grasp 
every  mortal  cent  they  can.  They  will  sell  out  some 

fine  morning  and  leave  us  in  the  lurch.  is  going 

to  London  this  coming  winter,  and  will  do  his  best  to 
induce  the  Board  to  make  the  minimum  £200  per 
share,  and  more  in  proportion  as  the  trade  allows.  I 
hope  he  succeeds. 

From  Chief  Factor  MacFarlane 

FORT  CHIPEWYAN,  2d  March,  1882. 

The  Board  of  Directors  have  graciously  undertaken 
to  insure  us  the  continuance  of  the  existing  handsome 

28 


Officers'  Profits 

guarantee  of  £200  per  one  hundredth  share  for  a  fur- 
ther term  of  three  years,  beginning  with  Outfit  1882 !  I 
suppose  we  ought  to  be  more  grateful  than  we  are  for 
all  that  they  have  so  generously  done  for  the  commis- 
sioned officers  since  and  under  reorganization.  Shall 
I  enumerate  some  of  these  acts  of  appreciation  of  our 
service?  First  they  give  us  nothing  for  Outfit  1875, 
£100  per  share  for  Outfit  1876,  and  to  which  the  offi- 
cers' own  reserve  fund  contributed  £5000,  while  their 
unjust  (discontinued  of  late)  assumption  of  three  fifths 
of  all  the  unappropriated  fur-trade  vacancies  has  more 
than  made  up  for  all  the  difference,  and  I  believe  also, 
most  if  not  all  that  has  been  subsequently  required  to 
make  up  the  £150  guarantee  for  1877,  and  the  £200 
for  Outfits  1878  and  1879. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  transfer  of  the  coun- 
try to  Canada  and  our  exclusion  from  all  interest  in 
the  lands  around,  and  especially  of  the  post  established 
and  kept  up  at  the  expense  of  the  fur-trade  (you  know 
that  the  Winnipeg  and  the  old  Red  River  colony  cost 
tens  of  thousands  of  pounds  sterling),  for  which  no 
compensation  has  ever  been  made,  has  been  a  very 
bad  business  for  the  commissioned  officers.  Their 
annual  incomes  have  not  come  up,  for  the  decade  just 
ended,  to  much  more  than  half  the  amount  realized 
by  their  predecessors.  Were  we  as  well  remunerated, 
we  could  not  complain,  but  in  the  face  of  the  tens  of 
thousands  already  secured  by  the  shareholders,  and 
the  prospect  of  millions  ahead,  it  is  contrary  to  reason 
and  human  nature  to  expect  us  to  be  satisfied  with  a 
state  of  affairs  that  has  so  injuriously  affected  our 
pecuniary  interest.  Let  the  Directors  or  shareholders, 
or  indeed  any  impartial  person,  compare  the  statement 
of  profits  realized  by  the  officers  from  1821  to  1871, 

29 


Lord  Strathcona 

and  then  to  the  year  1881,  and  as  men  of  honour, 
and  integrity,  they  cannot  help  admitting  that  justice 
calls  for  a  radical  redress  of  our  well-grounded  griev- 
ances. 

Whatever  doubts  might  have  been  entertained  as  to 
the  right  of  the  fur-trade  to  participate  in  the  sales  of 
lands  in  the  so-called  "fertile  belt,"  I  firmly  believe 
that  our  claim  to  a  share  of  the  50,000  acres  around 
our  establishment  was  not  only,  as  admitted,  morally 
strong,  but  legally  good,  and  that  this  view  should 
have  been  confirmed  had  the  question  been  submitted 
to  the  decision  of  a  court  of  law  and  equity.  But  all 
this  is  useless  now  you  will  say.  Still  under  the  bright 
prospect  of  the  future,  so  far  as  the  shareholders  are 
concerned,  the  Directors  ought  to  give  some  effect  to 
these  doubts  and  facts  in  favour  of  those  whose 
services  hitherto  have  been  so  miserably  and  inade- 
quately remunerated. 

Had  our  Canadian  investments  been  of  late  years 
as  profitable  as  formerly,  we  might  not  have  felt  the 
comparative  poverty  of  our  position  so  very  keenly. 
Many  of  us  have  large  families,  some  have  served 
twenty  to  thirty  years  and  upwards,  and  for  what?  — 
while  age  is  rapidly  coming  on.  Several  at  least  of  our 
number  believe  that  but  for  our  isolation,  large  sums 
might  have  been  realized  by  investment  in  Winnipeg, 
as  well  as  in  railways,  which  have  proved  of  immense 
benefit  to  those  who  were  fortunately  privileged  to 
utilize  their  means  in  this  manner.  I  must,  however, 
say  no  more  for  fear  you  should  consider  me  as  a 
grumbler. 


Interest  in  Investments 

From  Chief  Factor  Roderick  McKenzie 

MELBOURNE,  QUE.,  nth  June,  1883. 

Our  mutual  kind  and  generous-hearted  friend,  Chief 
Factor  Barnston1  has  gone  the  way  of  all  the  earth. 
There  are  not  many  living  now  who  were  the  guiding 
spirits  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  when  we  came 
to  the  country  first.  It  is  a  warning  to  us,  my  dear  sir, 
that  our  time  is  drawing  near.  May  our  Heavenly 
Father  prepare  us  for  the  great  change! 

What  sort  of  weather  have  you  got  in  the  North- 
West?  How  changed  is  that  country  from  the  solitude 
you  first  saw  —  thousands  of  people  coming  in  every 
week.  I  often  wonder  how  they  can  be  fed.  I  am  afraid 
many  of  them  will  starve,  both  from  the  want  of  food 
and  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  before  they  get 
their  houses  built. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  financial  relations  exist- 
ing between  Mr.  Smith  and  the  commissioned  offi- 
cers of  the  Company  for  many  years  the  following 
may  serve:  — 

From  the  Honourable  D.  A.  Smith 

MONTREAL,  nth  December,  1882. 

You  refer  to  the  surprise  and  disappointment  felt  by 
some  of  our  friends  in  the  North- West  at  "the  low 
rate  of  interest,  five  and  six  per  cent,  at  which  some 
recent  investments  have  been  placed." 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  no  better  rates  can  be  ob- 
tained here  on  such  undoubted  security  of  the  principal 
as  we  have  always  endeavoured  to  procure ;  and  indeed 
it  is  even  more  difficult  just  now  to  get  these  figures 
1  Under  whom  Mr.  Smith  served  at  Tadousac  in  1841. 
31 


Lord  Strathcona 

than  it  was  some  two  or  three  years  back  to  obtain 
seven,  eight,  and  even  nine  per  cent.  Nor,  in  my 
opinion,  is  there  a  prospect  of  any  great  increase  in 
the  value  of  money  for  some  time  to  come,  owing  in 
great  measure  to  the  very  large  amounts  of  English 
and  French  capital  seeking  investment  on  this  conti- 
nent for  which  they  are  willing  to  accept  less  than  five 
per  cent.  Hereafter,  as  in  the  past,  we  shall  always 
endeavour  to  do  the  best  for  our  friends  whose  money 
matters  we  attend  to,  but  you  will,  I  am  sure,  quite 
agree  with  me  in  believing  that  it  is  far  better  to  be 
contented  with  a  moderate  rate,  as  interest  now  goes, 
than  to  attempt  to  get  more  at  risk  to  moneys  invested. 
Perhaps  you  will  make  this  explanation  to  any  of  the 
gentlemen  in  your  district  to  whom  you  may  consider 
it  desirable  to  do  so. 

Mr.  G informed  me  in  September  last  that 

you  had  requested  him  to  draw  on  me  for  one  thousand 
dollars  for  your  account,  for  the  purpose  of  some  in- 
vestment in  steamboats  in  the  North-West,  to  which  I 
demurred,  in  the  first  instance,  as  I  had  received  no 
intimation  from  yourself  to  that  effect,  but  on  being 

assured  by  Mr.  G that  it  was  your  particular 

wish  that  he  should  receive  the  money,  I  advised  him 
that,  although  I  considered  the  transaction  far  from 
regular,  I  would  under  the  circumstances  accept  his 
draft  on  your  behalf  for  the  amount;  the  money  was 
in  consequence  paid  to  him  on  the  9th  October. 

May  I  ask,  however,  that  when  it  is  your  wish  to 
have  any  further  payments  made  on  your  account, 
you  will  be  good  enough  to  advise  me  of  the  same 
direct,  as  you  will  see  how  very  inconvenient  and 
against  your  own  interest  it  might  be,  were  we  to  make 
such  payments  on  the  ipse  dixit  of  this  or  that  person 

32 


Becomes  a  Director 

who  might  chance  to  make  a  requisition  upon  me  on 
your  account. 

Following  the  "boom"  or  speculation  in  land 
which  took  place  in  Winnipeg  and  elsewhere  in 
Manitoba,  for  some  time  prior  to  1882,  public 
attention  was  directed  in  Canada  to  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Land  Department  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  The  Board  in  London  sent  their  repre- 
sentative to  Winnipeg  to  enquire  and  report  on  the 
subject  in  1882  and  1883.  The  Directors,  however, 
were  unwilling  to  make  any  radical  changes  in  the 
arrangement  which  had  been  pursued  in  the  Land 
Department  abroad,  and  they  held  their  annual 
meeting  in  London  in  November,  1883,  when  the 
subject  was  discussed  at  length.  Mr.  Smith,  who 
had  been  the  largest  shareholder  prior  to  that  date, 
spoke  at  length  and  made  suggestions  for  some 
changes.  He  did  not,  however,  receive  any  support 
from  the  Board  of  Directors.  Consequently  he 
voted  against  their  reelection  and  proposed  a  new 
body  of  members,  some  of  whom  were  found  to  be 
ineligible  and  the  list  was  incomplete.  This  led  to 
a  conference  between  the  old  Directors  and  Mr. 
Smith,  with  the  result  that  a  compromise  was  pro- 
posed and  accepted  which  was  confirmed  at  a 
subsequent  meeting  of  the  shareholders.  Mr.  Elvin 
Colvile  retained  the  position  of  Governor,  the  bulk 
of  the  old  Directors  retired,  and  Hon.  Donald 
Smith  and  Sir  Charles  Russell,  Q.C.,  M.P.,  became 
Directors.1  The  letter  he  wrote  on  his  return  ex- 
plains itself :  — 

1  Memorandum  by  Mr.  William  Armit, 

33 


Lord  Strathcona 

To  Chief  Factor  MacFarlane 

MONTREAL,  8th  January,  1884. 

You  have  done  a  good  work  in  having  a  steamer 
built  in  Athabasca,  and  I  can  quite  understand  the 
difficulties  you  have  had  to  contend  with,  under  the 
circumstances  you  explain.  The  ultimate  saving  of 
cost  in  the  transport  business,  and  the  greater  facilities 
thus  given  for  conducting  the  business  advantageously, 
will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  tell  favourably  on  the  result  of 
trade,  both  in  Athabasca  and  Mackenzie  River  dis- 
trict, and  when  it  may  be  possible  to  supplement  this 
by  having  a  steamer  on  the  Mackenzie  River,  still 
further  reduction  may  be  looked  for  in  the  expenses  of 
distributing  supplies  and  sending  out  the  returns.  You 
have,  of  course,  given  your  views  fully  on  the  subject 
to  the  Company,  through  the  Fur-Trade  Commis- 
sioner, and  I  feel  satisfied  that,  when  submitted  in  due 
form  by  him,  they  will  be  carefully  considered. 

Having  only  just  returned  from  England,  I  am  un- 
able at  present  to  write  you  as  fully  as  I  could  wish, 
but  it  will  be  always  very  pleasing  to  me  to  have  your 
views  with  regard  to  the  business  which  you  have  been 
so  long  connected  with  and  which  you  know  so  inti- 
mately, and  when  I  can  be  of  use  at  any  time  in  for- 
warding your  wishes,  be  assured  it  would  give  me 
pleasure  to  do  so. 

You  will  no  doubt  learn  by  letters  and  papers, 
reaching  you  by  the  winter  express,,  that  some  changes 
have  taken  place  in  the  personnel  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  These  changes  were  insisted  on  by  myself, 
and  although  personally  I  did  not  care  to  be  on  the 
Direction,  still,  from  the  part  I  took  in  the  matter, 
I  felt  that  it  was  owing  to  my  friends  I  should  not  de- 

34 


Upsetting  the  Directorate 

cline  to  act.  The  constitution  of  the  Committee  as  at 
first  elected,  you  will  see,  has  been  modified,  the  old 
Directors  having  made  advances  to  me  with  a  view  to 
compromise  which,  considering  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  case,  I  thought  well  to  accede  to  in  part.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  present  members  of  the  Committee 
will  be  prepared  to  do  anything  necessary  for  putting 
their  affairs  in  this  country  on  a  satisfactory  footing, 
where  they  have  not  been  altogether  for  some  time 
back. 

This  was  a  dramatic  coup,  indeed ! 

From  Chief  Factor  Fortescue  to  a  brother-officer 

YORK  FACTORY,  yth  March,  1884. 

What  do  you  think  of  all  the  news  by  the  winter 
packet  —  Donald  A.  Smith  is  upsetting  the  whole  direc- 
torate and  his  open  charge  against  some  of  the  princi- 
pal officers  of  the  Company  in  Canada? 

Has  this  anything  to  do  with  the  testimonial  to  the 
present  Chief  Commissioner  sent  from  Council  last 
summer?  I  think  it  only  fair  to  tell  you  that  I  declined 
to  sign  the  papers.  I  did  n't  like  the  tone  of  them. 
They  are  inapplicable  to  an  outsider,  and  I  disapprove 
of  alienating  permanently  our  right  of  nomination,  as 
far  as  it  remains  to  us,  for  commissions.  I  think  if 
sanctioned,  we  shall  even  regret  the  step  taken. 

But  the  London  Directors  and  the  mass  of  share- 
holders had  gone  too  far  and  too  fast.  They  might, 
under  threats,  exchange  one  instrument  for  an- 
other, but  the  steady  sacrifice  of  the  rights  of  the 
unfortunate  winter  partners  was  not  to  be  checked 
by  the  efforts  of  any  single  champion. 

35 


Lord  Strathcona 

From  Chief  Factor  Charles  to  a  fellow-officer 

VICTORIA,  B.C.,  2ist  February,  1885. 

I  heartily  sympathize  with  you  in  your  comments 
as  regards  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  I  never  be- 
lieved much  in  their  justice  or  liberality  unless  when 
they  were  forced  to  be  so  or  could  not  help  themselves. 
But  at  the  same  time,  I  always  considered  it  a  hopeless 
case  to  tilt  against  a  great  moneyed  corporation  with- 
out the  sinews  of  war.  I  was  not  astonished  at  Mr. 
Grahame's  severance  from  the  Company,  as  I  knew 
that  he  was  at  loggerheads  with  Donald  A.  Smith, 
who  is  and  has  been  dictator  for  some  time,  not  only 
in  America,  but  also  in  London.  This  is  the  age  of 
syndicates  and  those  that  have  the  money  win,  right 
or  wrong,  principally  the  latter,  I  am  sorry  to  say. 
I  have  been  puzzled  to  find  out  the  true  inwardness  of 
things  for  a  long  time. 

Donald  A.  was  the  champion  of  the  officers  years  ago, 
ameliorating  the  status  of  the  officers,  raising  their 
pay,  etc.,  etc.  But  would  not  such  action  now  on  his 
part  be  against  the  interests  of  the  Board,  of  which  he 
is  a  Director? 

-In  the  following  year,  one  of  the  boldest  of  the 
fur-traders,  allied  by  blood  and  marriage  to  many 
of  the  old  North-Westers,  addressed  an  eloquent 
memorial  to  the  Company. 

From  Chief  Factor  R.  MacFarlane 

SALISBURY  HOTEL,  LONDON,  ist  May,  1886. 

As  a  Chief  Factor  and  one  who  has  been  engaged  in 
the  service  of  the  Company  for  upwards  of  thirty-five 
years,  I  am  intimately  acquainted  both  with  the  work- 

36 


Memorializing  the  Board 

ing  of  the  fur-trade  and  also  personally  with  the  feelings 
and  opinions  of  my  fellow  commissioned  officers,  and  as 
such  I  now  address  you  on  my  own  and  on  their  behalf. 

I  am  sorry  to  have  to  bring  before  you  the  fact  that 
our  position  has  been  lately  rapidly  growing  worse, 
and  that,  although  our  responsibilities  and  labours 
remain  as  great  as  ever  and  our  living  expenses  have 
increased,  our  remuneration  has  decreased  and  our 
prospects  of  improvement  have  dwindled  away  to 
almost  nothing.  We  who  have  been  long  in  the  service 
can  look  back  on  the  days  when  the  officers  used  to 
retire  on  a  sufficient  competence  after  a  hard  life  of 
toil,  whilst  we  ourselves  see  no  prospect  of  ever  doing 
much  beyond  making  a  bare  living  for  ourselves  and 
families. 

On  this  head  I  would  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
I  believe  this  is  perhaps  the  only  association  of  equal 
importance  and  permanent  character  which  does  not 
provide  retiring  pensions  for  its  officers,  and  this  can 
only  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  in  bygone  days  the 
profits  of  the  officers  were  sufficient  to  enable  them  to 
put  by  money,  and  that  if  this  had  not  been  the  case, 
the  necessity  of  pensions  would  long  ago  have  arisen. 

The  fact  I  mention  of  the  great  falling-off  in  com- 
missioned officers'  prospects  is  well  known  to  you. 
The  statement  of  profits  I  left  with  you  recently  shows 
that  the  profits  per  share  used  to  be  over  £490  a  year, 
whereas  now  they  are  little  over  £200  a  year.  This  is 
attributable  to  the  sale  of  the  Company's  chartered 
rights  to  the  Canadian  Government,  to  the  railroad- 
building  and  influx  of  settlers,  to  the  heavy  duties  now 
levied  on  imports,  and  generally  to  the  competition  in 
the  fur-trade  which  has  almost  doubled  the  prices  we 
now  have  to  pay  for  fur. 

37 

68503 


Lord  Strathcona 

Several  of  these  reasons,  whilst  operating  most  dis- 
advantageously  to  us  as  partners  in  the  fur-trade,  are 
for  the  great  benefit  of  the  shareholders  generally, 
notably  the  influx  of  settlers  and  consequent  sales  of 
land  by  which  the  capital  of  the  Company  is  being 
repaid,  whilst  we,  the  officers  who  originally  shared  in 
all  the  profits  of  the  Company,  are  now  practically 
limited  to  that  part  of  the  business  which  suffers  most 
by  the  very  causes  which  make  the  prosperity  of  the 
other  part. 

Under  the  circumstances  I  beg  that  Governor  and 
Directors  will  take  into  their  earnest  consideration  the 
necessity  of  raising  the  minimum  guarantee  on  each 
share  to  at  least  £250  a  year,  the  lowest  sum,  I  sub- 
mit, on  which  the  officers  can  maintain  themselves 
properly  and  save  something;  and  further  that  if,  at 
the  end  of  five  years,  it  appears  that  the  sums  paid 
on  each  share  under  guarantee  and  profits  have  not 
amounted  to  £300  a  year,  then  that  the  deficiency  be 
made  up  in  the  fifth  year. 

I  should  point  out  on  this  head  that  if  the  commer- 
cial business  should  prove  as  profitable  as  is  hoped,  this 
additional  guarantee  will  entail  no  cost  upon  the 
Company. 

You  will  pardon  my  apparent  insistence  on  this 
matter.  As  one  of  your  oldest  officers  I  have  the  best 
interests  of  the  Company  and  of  my  fellow-officers  at 
heart,  and  I  feel  convinced  that  it  is  your  desire  that 
we  should  do  our  work,  not  only  zealously,  but  also 
hopefully,  which  we  cannot  do  under  our  present  cir- 
cumstances. 

Poor  blind  Belisarius  begging  his  obolus  from 
Dives,  who  had  taken  from  him  his  inheritance! 
If  the  future  historian  desires  to  turn  a  strong  light 

38. 


A  Veteran's  Avowal 

upon  the  inner  life,  hopes,  and  prospects  of  the  fur- 
traders  of  the  remote  posts  of  the  Company  at  this 
period,  let  him  peruse  the  following  letter.  It  will 
reveal  much :  — 


From  Chief  Factor  James  L.  Cotter 

MOOSE  FACTORY,  loth  July,  1886. 

It  is  a  self-evident  fact  that  nothing  can  be  done 
without  union.  That  the  discontent  you  speak  of  is  felt 
more  or  less  all  over  the  country  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
but  whether  all  will  combine  to  give  forcible  utterance 
to  it,  is  another  thing.  In  1878  the  western  officers 
refused  to  join  the  others ;  at  the  same  time  they  reaped 
the  benefit  of  the  stand  made  by  their  brethren.  At 
that  time  I  threw  in  my  lot  with  the  majority,  and  if 
things  had  gone  against  us,  God  knows  what  would 
have  become  of  me,  for  I  had  not  a  sixpence  to  live  on. 
I  am  now  in  my  thirtieth  year  of  service,  and  see  no 
prospect  of  ever  being  able  to  retire  on  anything  beyond 
a  mere  pittance.  My  health  is  delicate,  and  I  could  not 
now  go  at  anything  else  in  the  way  of  business ;  so  I  am 
beset  with  difficulties  and  anxieties  on  all  hands.  I 
suppose  I  am  the  poorest  Chief  Factor  in  the  service. 

You  will  pardon  me  for  troubling  you  with  these 
particulars.  I  only  do  so  to  enable  you  to  know  some- 
thing of  the  man  with  whom  you  have  to  deal,  and 
how  his  circumstances  must  necessarily  colour  his 
opinions  and  give  bias  to  his  actions. 

I  do  think  we  are  hardly  treated  by  the  Board  and 
that  an  endeavour  to  get  "better  terms"  should  be 
made.  Yet,  —  and  here  lies  my  difficulty,  —  I  ques- 
tion if  I  have  any  right  to  stake  on  one  cast  the  bread 
and  butter  of  a  large  young  family.  I  walk  on  the 

39 


Lord  Strathcona 

brink  of  a  precipice,  one  false  step  and  the  toil  and  suf- 
fering of  a  lifetime  are  thrown  away  and  those  depend- 
ent on  me  reduced  to  poverty.  I  am  too  old  to  pick 
myself  up  again  if  I  fall.  Of  course  it  is  possible  that  a 
firm  combination  of  the  officers  might  make  success 
certain ;  but  to  that  is  added  the  dread  that  the  Board, 
to  avenge  their  defeat,  would  proceed  to  lop  off  the 
tallest  heads;  and  the  existing  Chief  Factors  would 
speedily  find  themselves  shelved.  If  the  choice  lay 
between  being  tolerably  well  off  in  the  service  and  just 
a  little  less  well  off  out  of  it,  in  short  if  the  stake  were 
not  so  big  to  me  as  it  is,  there  would  be  little  difficulty 
in  making  up  one's  mind  which  course  to  pursue.  But 
when  it  is  a  matter  of  bread  and  butter  on  the  one  hand 
and  starvation  on  the  other,  one  may  well  pause  and 
consider  the  consequences  which  might  accrue  should 
circumstances  throw  one  at  the  mercy  of  relentless 
enemies.  If  I  were  a  bachelor  and  misfortune  befell 
myself  alone,  I  could  face  it ;  but  a  lot  of  helpless  chil- 
dren wanting  food,  clothing,  and  education!  —  I  can- 
not bear  the  thought  of  it ;  I  would  rather  die  than  see  it. 
I  should  only  be  too  glad  if  we  could  get  the  £250. 
I  am,  however,  thankful  for  the  £200,  my  only  com- 
plaint about  it  being  that  it  is  not  a  certainty,  but  a 
thing  niggardly  promised,  as  it  were,  from  year  to  year. 
I  say  I  am  thankful,  but  I  am  not  satisfied.  What  I 
want  is  a  sure  and  certain  minimum  of  £250  and  a 
retiring  interest  the  same  as  under  the  old  regime. 
That  is  what  I  want,  and  with  that  I  could  jog  on  in 
some  sort  of  hope.  You  certainly  hit  the  nail  on  the 
head  when  you  spoke  of  your  being  unable  to  work 
hopefully  under  the  present  circumstances.  We  work 
as  if  at  the  pumps  of  a  sinking  ship.  It  is  a  strained  and 
unhealthy  state  of  mind. 

40 


Board  and  Public  Opinion 
From  Chief  Factor 

8th  June,  1886. 

The  Board  are  taking  a  long  time  to  answer  Mr. 
MacFarlane's  Memorial.  They  want  to  issue  one  of 
their  conciliatory  manifestoes  first,  very  likely  as  a 
sort  of  buffer.  They  are  as  tricky  as  Mr.  Gladstone, 
who  (I  am  glad  to  learn  this  morning)  has  been  kicked 
out  of  office  on  account  of  his  Home  Rule  Bill. 

I  think  the  Board  will  be  afraid  to  give  Mr.  M 

his  quietus  after  that  Memorial.  They  dread  a  series 
of  articles  published  in  the  London  Times  or  other 
influential  paper,  exposing  their  malpractices.  They 
are  as  afraid  of  modern  public  opinion  as  slugs  and 
sclaters  are  of  the  sunlight;  for  the  reason  that  their 
deeds  are  evil. 

As  he  was  now  a  Director,  Mr.  Smith  could  not 
formally  represent  the  wintering  partners,  as  an 
outsider.  But  he  entered  as  sympathetically  into 
their  grievances  as  of  old,  and  always  lent  them  his 
support. 

Sir  William  Butler,  author  of  the  Great  Lone 
Land,  wrote  to  Mr.  MacFarlane:  — 

I  am  sorry  to  hear  you  have  had  such  an  uphill 
struggle  with  the  Board.  A  corporation  has  no  con- 
science. I  believe  that  selfish  greed  of  place  and  profit 
has  stamped  out  the  last  vestige  of  honour  from  our 
public  bodies,  and  most  of  our  public  men,  and  that 
at  no  time  in  our  history  has  rampant  injustice  had 
greater  sway  than  now. 

But  if  I  know  anything  of  you,  you  are  not  the  man 
to  give  up  without  a  good  fight.  Sir  Donald  Smith  is, 


Lord  Strathcona 

I  think,  obliged  to  be  what  the  French  call  an  "oppor- 
tunist," but  I  have  always  known  he  meant  well. 

The  Board  conferred  with  the  shareholders,  who 
finally  consented  to  a  measure  of  justice  to  the 
wintering  partners. 

From  Chief  Factor  William  Charles 

VICTORIA,  B.C.,  I4th  January,  1887. 

So  you  see  the  London  shareholders  were  afraid  of 
too  much  ventilation  on  affairs.  But  I  suppose  every- 
thing is  fair  in  war.  I  am  afraid  the  highly  important 
communication  will  turn  out  moonshine.  I  can  see 
fully  what  the  object  of  the  Company  is.  It  is  not  dif- 
ferent now  from  what  it  always  has  been,  only  now 

Mr.  A seems  to  have  acquired  Bismarckian 

power  over  the  Board  and  rules  harshly  and  despoti- 
cally with  a  rod  of  iron.  I  earnestly  hope  you  will  suc- 
ceed in  clipping  that  upstart's  wings.  I  am  told  that 
the  new  commissioner  is  not  a  very  happy  man  and 
finds  things  do  not  work  so  smoothly  as  he  at  first 
thought. 

To  Chief  Factor  Peter  Mackenzie 

June  9,  1888. 

I  learn  you  were  not  so  successful  in  hunting  as  in 
former  years.  It  is  also  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  the 
natives  [of  Ungava]  suffered  so  much  from  scarcity  of 
food ;  but  this  appears  to  have  been  the  case  through- 
out the  country  as  well  as  with  you ;  and  this  last  win- 
ter again  we  hear  there  has  been  great  suffering  and 
privation  from  the  same  cause. 

I  have  had  a  good  deal  of  communication  and  con- 
versation with  my  associates  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 

42 


Governor  of  the  Company- 
Company,  and  also  with  the  Secretary,  and  hope  that 
you  will  be  able  to  spend  another  winter  in  Ungava; 
after  which  I  trust  we  shall  be  able  to  find  for  you  more 
congenial  work. 

From  Sir  W.  F.  Butler  to  R.  MacFarlane 

LONDON,  October  5th,  1889. 

So  you  are  back  on  the  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
again,  and  at  Old  Cumberland,  so  long  the  advanced 
post  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  before  French- 
Canadians  showed  stay-at-home  John  Bull  how  to 
develop  the  Great  North;  nor  are  the  modern  repre- 
sentatives of  those  great  companies  much  better  than 
their  ancestors.  I  am  sorry  you  do  not  like  the  new 
dispensation,  but  the  London  Board  will  ever  be  cow- 
ardly and  vindictive.  They  are  dishonest  themselves, 
and  hate  honesty  as  the  devil  hates  truth. 

It  was  in  this  year,  1889,  that  he  who  had  for  so 
many  years  been  the  outstanding  figure  in  the  once 
mighty  fur-trade  of  Canada,  became  the  titular 
Governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The 
suffrages  of  his  fellow  Directors  elected  him  to  this 
position,  first  filled  by  Prince  Rupert  of  the  Rhine. 
It  had  latterly  lost  its  pristine  glory;  but  the 
romance  of  the  young  Scottish  lad,  who,  beginning 
at  the  lowest  rung  of  the  ladder,  had  finally 
achieved  the  summit,  served  again  to  shed,  while 
he  lived,  a  lustre  on  the  chair. 

In  another  chapter  I  purpose  returning  to  his 
connection  with  the  fur-trade  and  to  the  corre- 
spondence of  the  veterans  who  still  lingered  on 
the  scene. 

43 


NOTE  TO  CHAPTER  XVI 

I  think  it  has  been  made  abundantly  clear  that 
Donald  A.  Smith  was  not  blind  to  the  potential  value 
of  the  land  in  the  North- West,  nor  had  he  been  for 
some  years.  The  difficulty  was  to  induce  the  factors 
generally  to  accept  compensation  in  the  form  of  land 
rather  than  money.  Yet  as  an  illustration  of  how  his 
attitude  continues  to  be  misunderstood  I  find  one 
prominent  Chief  Factor  stating  at  Lord  Strathcona's 
death :  — 

In  1870  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  and  Sir  Curtis  Lampson 
frankly  admitted,  as  did  Secretary  W.  G.  Smith  and 
Assistant-Secretary  W.  Armit,  that  the  fur-trade  had  a  forty 
per  cent  interest  in  the  fifty  thousand  acres  around  the  posts, 
and  in  the  posts  and  establishments  themselves.  Had  this 
important  asset  been  retained,  the  service  would  have  been 
one  of  the  most  remunerative  in  Canada !  Mr.  Smith's  own 
Labrador  and  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  land  experience  made 
him  all  the  readier  to  agree  with  some  of  the  older  partners 
of  1870,  to  get  a  little  more  money  at  once,  rather  than  wait 
for  further  settlement  developments  in  which  like  a  few  they 
did  n't  believe.  And  thus  we  lost  terribly.  Had  Mr.  Smith, 
however,  been  brought  up  in  the  Northern  Department,  as 
was  Governor  Mactavish,  Joseph  Wilson,  and  other  Chief 
Factors  and  Chief  Traders,  he  would  assuredly  have  been 
as  staunch  for  all  land  righ'ts  as  any  one. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  ST.   PAUL  &   PACIFIC   RAILWAY 
1873-1878 

UNTIL  the  sixties  of  the  last  century  the  only 
means  of  commercial  transportation  between  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  territories  in  the  Cana- 
dian West  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard  was  by  ox-cart 
from  Winnipeg  to  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  and  from 
thence  down  the  Mississippi  River  by  steamboat 
to  some  one  of  the  railways  leading  from  that  river 
to  Chicago. 

By  way  of  experiment  a  small  steamer,  capable, 
so  the  wits  said,  of  travelling  on  a  heavy  dew,  was 
placed  upon  the  Red  River.  Finding  it  was  too 
small  for  the  trade,  the  Company  built  a  larger 
called  the  International,  and  on  the  26th  of  May, 
1862,  the  first  trip  of  this  steamboat  to  Fort  Garry 
was  made.  For  the  ensuing  nine  years  the  Inter- 
national continued  on  the  route  from  Abercrombie 
and  Georgetown  to  Winnipeg,  carrying  goods  to 
and  fro  for  the  benefit  of  the  Company  and  the 
settlers. 

We  have  seen  how  in  1870  Mr.  James  Jerome 
Hill  had  paid  his  first  visit  to  Winnipeg  and  had 
made  en  route  the  acquaintance  of  Commissioner 
Donald  A.  Smith.  Hill's  business  connections  with 
the  Red  River  Settlement  seemed  to  him  now  to 
justify  his  having  a  steamer  of  his  own.  He  there- 

45 


Lord  Strathcona 

fore  built  one,  the  Selkirk.  As  a  naturalized  Ameri- 
can citizen  he  enjoyed  certain  technical  advan- 
tages over  the  owners  of  a  rival  boat.  To  adjust 
the  situation  Mr.  Smith,  as  the  chief  officer  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  caused  the  International 
forthwith  to  be  transferred  to  the  Company's  agent 
in  St.  Paul,  Mr.  Norman  W.  Kittson,  to  be  oper- 
ated as  a  regular  passenger  and  freight  boat  in 
opposition  to  Hill's  Selkirk.  The  outcome  of  the 
competition  between  these  two  steamers  (the  his- 
tory of  which  is  not  without  some  elements  of 
Mark  Twainish  humour)  was  an  amalgamation  of 
the  interests  of  Messrs.  Kittson  and  Hill,  and  the 
formation  of  the  Red  River  Transportation  Com- 
pany under  Kittson 's  management. 

Here  was  a  monopoly,  and  an  outcry  went  up. 
With  the  object  of  lowering  rates  they  deemed 
excessive,  the  merchants  of  Winnipeg,  acting  with 
others  in  Minneapolis,  founded  an  opposition 
line.  Two  steamers,  the  Manitoba  and  Minnesota, 
were  built  to  compete  with  the  Hill-Kittson  Com- 
pany. But  this  Merchants'  Line,  as  it  was  called, 
soon  succumbed  to  its  more  powerful  competitor, 
which  eventually  purchased  the  steamers  and 
added  them  to  its  fleet,  numbering  seven  vessels 
in  1878. 

As  for  the  mails,  they  were  carried  by  stage- 
coach, which  continued  to  run  daily  until  the 
opening,  many  years  later,  of  the  Pembina  Branch 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway. 

In  the  year  1857,  the  American  Congress  passed 
an  act  making  a  grant  of  land  to  the  Territory  of 

46 


A  Broken-down  Railway 

Minnesota,  to  aid  the  construction  of  the  Minne- 
sota &  Pacific  Railway  from  St.  Paul,  via  St. 
Anthony  (Minneapolis),  to  the  head  of  navigation 
on  the  Red  River.  In  May  of  the  same  year,  the 
Minnesota  Legislature  incorporated  the  Minnesota 
&  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  with  a  capital  of 
$5,000,000,  to  build  a  railway  from  Stillwater,  via 
St.  Cloud  and  St.  Anthony,  to  the  town  of  Breck- 
enridge,  with  a  branch  from  St.  Anthony,  via  St. 
Cloud  and  Crow  Wing,  to  St.  Vincent,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Pembina  River.  But  this  projected 
line  was  not  even  begun,  and  the  company  lan- 
guished till  1 86 1,  when  an  act  was  passed  to  "facili- 
tate the  construction  of  the  Minnesota  &  Pacific 
Railway."  The  great  Civil  War  broke  out  and  fur- 
ther delay  occurred.  A  year  later,  another  act  was 
passed  changing  the  name  of  the  company  to  the 
"St.  Paul  &  Pacific  Railroad  Company,"  and  re- 
quiring the  company  to  complete  the  portion  of  the 
road  between  St.  Paul  and  St.  Anthony  by  the  fol- 
lowing 1st  of  January,  and  to  St.  Cloud  by  January 
I,  1865.  The  ten  miles  between  St.  Paul  and  St. 
Anthony,  the  "first  stitch  in  the  network  of  rail- 
ways which  now  covers  the  State  of  Minnesota," 
were  forthwith  built  in  accordance  with  the  pro- 
visions of  the  act. 

At  the  time  it  ran  as  far  as  Breckenridge  the 
St.  Paul  &  Pacific  Railway  was  a  very  poor  affair, 
and  its  service  in  handling  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company's  traffic  was  highly  unsatisfactory.  "On 
each  of  the  visits  of  Mr.  Smith  to  Mr.  Hill  it 
was  violently  damned  by  the  one  and  spoken  of 

47 


Lord  Strathcona 

deprecatingly  by  the  other,  each  in  his  own  charac- 
teristic way."  1 

The  truth  is  this  railway,  which  had  swallowed 
up  vast  sums  of  money,  came  to  a  standstill,  so  far 
as  construction  went,  for  want  of  funds.  It  was  the 
victim  —  a  typical  case  —  of  railway  financiers 
and  construction  companies;  it  was  mortgaged  and 
the  mortgages  were  foreclosed  and  then  it  was 
re-mortgaged.  Yet  throughout  these  transactions 
its  charter,  giving  it  extensive  and  valuable  land 
grants,  still  continued  valid  and  finally  tempted  a 
syndicate  of  Dutch  capitalists  to  intervene.  On 
the  strength  of  these  land  securities  and  the  great 
prospects  of  the  line,  if  completed,  they  were  in- 
duced to  purchase  $13,380,000  of  its  bonds  and  by 
completing  the  road  to  avert  a  forfeiture  of  its 
land  grant. 

This  was  the  situation  when  Mr.  Smith  first 
became  acquainted  with  the  enterprise.  Evil  for- 
tune continued  to  haunt  it,  and  in  1873  the  St. 
Paul  &  Pacific  Railway  became  bankrupt. 

And  now,  leaving  for  a  moment  this  bankruptcy 
of  a  road  which  was  to  exert  so  vast  an  influence 
upon  Mr.  Smith's  fortunes,  let  us  glance  at  the 
general  railway  situation  in  western  Canada  at  that 
period. 

1  Memorandum,  Sir  William  Van  Home.  "The  right  honourable 
the  First  Minister  will  recollect  that  when,  on  the  collapse  of  the 
Jay  Gould  projects,  in  1872,  the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific  Railway  being 
constructed  in  the  State  of  Minnesota  stopped  short  about  one 
hundred  miles  from  the  international  boundary,  I,  with  his  con- 
sent, made  some  enquiries  regarding  the  possibility  of  continuing 
the  road  through  to  Manitoba.  I  was  thus  led  to  look  into  the  pos- 
sibilities of  that  country."  (Parliamentary  Debates,  May  26,  1887.) 

48 


The  Mackenzie  Programme 

Manitoba  and  the  West  had  long  been  crying 
aloud  for  effective  railway  communication  with  the 
outer  world.  British  Columbia  continued  to  de- 
mand a  fulfilment  of  the  pledge  by  which  she  had 
been  induced  to  enter  the  Dominion. 

The  fall  of  the  Macdonald  Government  was  a 
serious  blow  to  the  fortunes  of  the  North-West 
which  had  before  appeared  so  roseate.  It  postponed 
for  years  the  completion  of  the  great  main  line 
of  the  railway  to  the  Pacific,  which  Alexander 
Mackenzie  and  his  colleagues  forthwith  attempted 
to  construct  piecemeal  as  a  Government  work,  and 
in  connection  with  the  discredited  land-and-water 
Dawson  route,  stretching  between  Red  River  and 
Lake  Superior. 

The  Act  of  1874  provided  for  the  construction 
of  a  railway  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  provided  the 
construction  could  be  made  "without  increasing 
taxation."  The  road  was  to  run  from  near  Lake 
Nipissing  to  the  Pacific  and  was  divided  into  four 
sections;  the  first  from  Nipissing  to  the  west  end 
of  Lake  Superior;  the  second  from  Lake  Superior  to 
Red  River,  the  third  from  Red  River  to  Edmonton 
or  the  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, and  the  fourth 
from  there  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  There  were  also  to 
be  two  branch  lines,  one  to  extend  from  the  pro- 
posed eastern  terminus  to  a  point  of  Georgian  Bay, 
and  the  other  to  make  a  branch  from  the  main  line 
near  Fort  Garry  to  some  point  near  Pembina.  Each 
branch  was  to  form  a  part  of  the  main  line  and  to 
be  an  independent  section,  and  a  subsidy  of  ten 
thousand  dollars  a  mile  and  twenty  thousand  acres 

49 


Lord  Strathcona 

of  land  a  mile,  in  alternate  blocks,  was  offered  for 
any  portion  built  and  operated  as  a  private  enter- 
prise. 

In  the  Dominion  House  of  Commons  Mr.  Smith 
"deeply  regretted  that  party  feeling  should  have 
been  permitted  in  any  wise  to  enter  into  the  dis- 
cussion of  an  enterprise  with  which  the  fortunes 
of  Canada  were  closely  bound  up."  "Of  vast  and 
general  importance  is  this  problem"  the  solution  of 
which  must  in  any  case  be  attended  with  great 
difficulty. 

It  is  an  undertaking  of  such  magnitude  as  to  demand 
the  cordial  cooperation  of  the  whole  country  to  insure 
its  successful  completion,  and  it  ought,  therefore,  to 
be  regarded  wholly  outside  of  party  considerations. 

The  whole  people  of  Manitoba  would  be  gratified 
by  the  assurance  —  the  reassurance  on  the  part  of  the 
Government  —  that  they  intend  to  carry  through,  or 
rather,  that  they  do  not  propose  to  abandon,  their 
intention  of  constructing  an  all-rail  road  from  Lake 
Superior  to  Manitoba.  For  I  distinctly  understood 
that  their  purpose  all  along  has  been  to  complete  the 
road  between  these  two  points  with  all  possible  des- 
patch, merely  using  the  water-courses  in  the  mean 
time  during  the  progress  of  the  work,  and  not  substi- 
tuting them  for  any  portion  of  the  road.  More  than 
this,  it  would  be  absurd  to  demand. 

It  was  admitted  on  all  hands  that  we  have  under- 
taken an  obligation  toward  British  Columbia  to  build 
a  railway  through  to  the  Pacific,  and  I  for  one  hold 
that  everything  that  is  practicable  should  be  done  to 
carry  out  this  engagement. 

British  Columbia,  in  view  of  its  great  natural  re- 

50 


The  Dawson  Route 

sources,  abounding  as  it  does  in  mineral  wealth,  was 
well  worthy  of  their  best  attention  and  consideration 
—  and  although  less  generally  known,  its  agricultural 
and  pastural  capabilities  are  also  of  a  high  order.  I 
consider  that  we  have  cause  to  congratulate  ourselves 
on  having  added  to  the  Dominion  so  fair  a  Province, 
and  I  trust  and  believe  that  however  we  might  differ, 
on  minor  points,  the  people  of  British  Columbia,  con- 
vinced by  the  determination  of  Canada  faithfully  to 
fulfil  all  her  obligations  to  the  utmost  extent  that  the 
resources  of  the  Dominion  permitted,  will  never  ask  to 
recede  from  Confederation.  British  Columbia,  with 
her  resources  fully  developed,  will  greatly  add  to  the 
importance  and  prosperity  of  the  Dominion,  and 
the  main  question  now  to  be  considered  is  how  far 
the  resources  of  Canada  will  warrant  the  vigorous 
prosecution  of  this  work. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  member  for  Selkirk,  the 
Dawson  route  was 

all  very  well  so  long  as  they  had  nothing  better,  and  for 
several  years  had  served  a  very  good  purpose  in  caus- 
ing a  reduction  of  the  charges  made  by  American  com- 
panies for  the  transport  of  passengers  and  freight.  But 
the  people  of  Manitoba  were  most  anxious  to  have  at 
the  earliest  possible  moment  railway  communication 
between  Pembina  and  Fort  Garry.  They  certainly 
desired,  and  hoped  shortly  to  see,  an  all-rail  route  con- 
structed from  one  ocean  to  the  other,  but  they  were 
eager  to  have  connection  with  Pembina  in  the  mean 
time. 

Something  has  been  said  of  the  magnificent  water- 
courses of  the  North-West.  Statements  have  been 
made  that  they  were  a  myth.  It  is  said  that  they  have 


Lord  Strathcona 

not  yet  been  discovered  by  those  who  had  travelled 
over  the  country.  My  own  impression  is  that  there  are 
some  stretches  of  water  there  that  may  properly  and 
soberly  be  called  magnificent.  Lake  Winnipeg  is  cer- 
tainly no  inconsiderable  expanse  of  water  itself,  and 
from  this  lake,  with  a  very  little  barrier,  an  entrance 
is  made  into  the  Saskatchewan.  From  that  point  there 
are  three  hundred  miles  of  uninterrupted  water  com- 
munication. At  the  end  of  those  three  hundred  miles, 
it  is  necessary  to  transport  freight  for  four  miles  by 
land,  and  having  again  reached  the  Saskatchewan  you 
can  go  for  nine  hundred  or  one  thousand  miles  into 
the  interior  and  within  seventy  or  eighty  miles  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.1 

While  almost  wholly  useless  as  an  emigration 
route,  the  Dawson  route  in  Mr.  Smith's  opinion 
had  been  of  very  great  advantage  in  transporting 
supplies  to  the  North- West.  The  very  fact  of  its 
being  turned  over  to  a  company  in  1874 

had  the  effect  of  making  the  people  in  Minnesota 
reduce  their  transportation  rates  still  further.  They 
are  shrewd  men,  and,  having  very  little  confidence  in 
their  own  Government,  they  thought  the  competing 
Dawson  route  would  be  more  efficiently  managed  by 
the  contractor  than  by  the  Canadian  Government. 
My  opinion  is  the  Administration  should  still  be  pre- 
pared to  carry  emigrants  and  freight  by  the  Dawson 
route  if  any  attempt  is  made  by  the  Americans  to 
enforce  higher  rates.  It  should  not  be  given  up  alto- 
gether. I  understand  the  Americans  will  still  further 
reduce  their  rates  this  year.  It  is  hardly  fair  to  say  it 
was  money  thrown  away  to  spend  on  the  railroads 
1  Parliamentary  Debates,  House  of  Commons,  April,  1876. 

52 


Continuous  Line  demanded 

connecting  with  the  water-ways,  provided  they  were 
adapted  for  an  all-rail  road,  —  and  the  route  is  not  too 
indirect.1 

He  said  on  another  occasion:  — 

It  is  a  very  different  thing  to  have  a  railroad  and  to 
have  a  wagon  road.  Many  things  can  be  brought  into 
the  country  by  means  of  a  rail  and  "water  route  which 
cannot  be  carried  by  an  ordinary  wagon  or  cart,  and 
they  can  be  usefully  employed  while  progress  was 
being  made  with  the  railroads.  I  would  be  very  sorry 
to  see  the  undertaking  stop  short  with  this  rail  and 
water  route.  On  the  contrary,  I  hope  and  trust  there 
will  be  a  continuous  railroad  carried  out  with  all  pos- 
sible speed. 

Speaking  in  Manitoba  he  said:  — 

While  I  do  not  want  to  be  an  apologist  for  the  Gov- 
ernment in  its  construction  of  the  Georgian  Bay 

1  The  total  distance  of  the  Dawson  road  from  Lake  Superior  to 
Red  River  was  about  five  hundred  and  thirty  miles;  forty-five  at  the 
beginning  and  a  hundred  and  ten  at  the  end  by  land;  and  three 
hundred  and  eighty  miles  between,  "made  up  of  a  chain  of  some 
twenty  lakes,  lakelets,  and  lacustrine  rivers,  separated  from  each 
other  by  spits,  ridges,  or  short  traverses  of  land  or  granite  rocks, 
that  have  to  be  portaged  across." 

In  the  opinion  of  Principal  G.  M.  Grant,  who  travelled  with 
Mr.  Fleming  in  1873,  the  Dawson  road,  as  a  route  for  trade  for 
ordinary  travel  or  for  emigrants  to  go  west,  was  far  from  satisfac- 
tory. "  Only  by  building  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  or  so  of  railway 
at  the  beginning  and  the  end,  and  by  overcoming  the  intervening 
portages  in  such  a  way  that  bulk  would  not  have  to  be  broken,  could 
it  be  made  to  compete  even  with  the  present  route  by  Duluth  and  the 
railway  thence  to  Pembina.  The  question,  then,  is  simply  whether 
or  not  it  is  wise  to  do  this,  at  an  expenditure  of  some  millions  on  a 
road  the  greater  part  of  which  runs  along  the  boundary  line,  after 
the  Dominion  has  already  decided  to  build  a  direct  line  of  railway 
to  the  North-West."  (See  Ocean  to  Ocean,  by  G.  M.  Grant,  1873.) 

53 


Lord  Strathcona 

Branch  and  the  railroad  here,  I  know  it  is  a  great  deal 
easier  to  construct  the  road  as  they  are  doing  and  far 
cheaper.  I  believe  it  is  being  pushed  forward  as  fast 
as  the  finances  of  the  country  will  allow,  and  I  agree 
that  the  Pembina  Branch  ought  not  to  delay  the  con- 
struction of  the  main  line.  At  the  same  time  I  do  not 
believe  that  the  building  of  this  road  to  Pembina  will 
stand  in  the  way. 

On  another  occasion,  Mr.  Donald  Smith  told 
his  constituents :  — 

We  looked  confidently  forward  to  the  construction  of 
the  Pembina  Branch ;  and  great  was  our  disappointment 
when  the  American  railway1  connecting  on  the  other 
side  of  the  boundary  line  became  disorganized.  It  was 
stopped  sixty  miles  before  reaching  the  boundary,  bar- 
ring us  as  completely  from  outer  communication  as  if 
the  rails  had  not  been  laid  beyond  Breckenridge.  Ef- 
forts were  made  by  the  Minnesota  Government  to  take 
up  the  railway  again,  but  the  surrounding  circum- 
stances were  such  that  no  one  could  be  induced  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  it. 

He  then  went  on  to  say :  — 

It  happens  that  I  had  friends  in  London  and  Mon- 
treal who  were  interested  in  this  country.  But  when 
these  gentlemen  were  consulted  with  in  reference  to  a 
railroad  to  Manitoba,  one  might  just  as  well  have  sug- 
gested to  them  a  road  to  the  North  Pole.  So  little  was 
known  of  this  part  of  Canada  that  capitalists  could 
not  be  induced  to  embark  their  wealth  in  the  enter- 
prise and  I  desisted  — for  a  time. 

1  The  St.  Paul  &  Pacific. 
54 


Financial  Depression 

When  speaking  of  all  these  great  public  under- 
takings not  having  been  more  rapidly  advanced, 
Mr.  Smith  pointed  out  the  extraordinary  financial 
depression  which  just  then  existed:  — 

With  a  depression  more  severe  than  had  been  known 
for  many  years,  the  country  and  Government  had  to 
contend.  It  was  a  period  of  embarrassment  not  con- 
fined to  the  Dominion,  but  extending  over  the  United 
States,  England,  and  the  Continent,  and  railroad  enter- 
prises had  been  greatly  retarded  by  it. 

It  is  interesting  to  recall  that  at  this  time  (1876) 
Mr.  Smith  did  not  believe  in  the  practicability  of 
the  transcontinental  railway  being  built  by  a  priv- 
ate company. 

"  I  will  give  it  as  my  opinion  that  if  it  is  to  be 
accomplished  at  all,  it  must  be  directly  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  not  through  the  instrumentality  of  a 
company  as  was  at  one  time  proposed."  When  a 
fellow-member  spoke  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way Company  of  1873  as  having  been  composed  of 
"most  honourable  men,  well  qualified  to  carry  out 
this  great  undertaking,  and  who  would  have  accom- 
plished it  had  they  not  been  interfered  with  by 
outside  influences,"  Mr.  Smith  said:  — 

The  gentlemen  who  composed  that  company  were 
doubtless  men  of  the  highest  respectability,  and  some 
of  them  possessed  great  wealth,  but  I  would  have  asked 
the  right  honourable  gentleman  for  Kingston,1  if  he 
had  been  in  his  place  to-night,  if  the  gallant  knight, 
Sir  Hugh  Allan,  who  presided  over  the  company,  had 

1  Sir  John  A.  Macdonald. 
55 


Lord  Strathcona 

not,  before  leaving  this  country,  misgivings  as  to  the 
success  of  the  mission  he  was  about  to  undertake.  I 
will  not  ask  his  honourable  friend  from  Cumberland,1 
and  the  other  members  of  the  late  Government  who 
sit  near  him,  whether  within  eight  days  after  the 
deputation  reached  London,  those  gentlemen  were  not 
convinced  that  it  was  impossible  to  procure  the  money 
required  on  the  terms  proposed,  and  in  fact  that  nothing 
short  of  a  guarantee  from  the  Canadian  Government 
of  interest  to  some  extent  on  the  whole  amount  of  the 
bonds  could  induce  capitalists  to  embark  on  the  enter- 
prise. This,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  was  before  any 
party  influence  had  been  brought  to  play,  if  indeed 
such  had  been  at  all  employed,  which  I  am  not  inclined 
to  believe,  to  thwart  the  scheme.  I  had  been  in  Eng- 
land about  that  time,  and  had  learned,  on  what  I 
believed  to  be  the  best  authority,  that  the  capitalists 
with  whom  the  company  wished  to  negotiate  would 
not  touch  the  proposition  on  any  other  terms  than  a 
Government  guarantee,  as  I  have  just  stated.2 

Finally,  the  Mackenzie  Government  pressed  for- 
ward the  road.  The  survey  across  Manitoba  was 
made,  when,  much  to  the  general  disappointment 
and  disgust  of  Mr.  Smith's  constituents,  the  plans 
showed  that  it  avoided  Winnipeg  altogether,  taking 
a  course  much  farther  north.  Here  was  a  bitter 
pill  to  swallow!  With  Mr.  Fleming  the  member  for 
Selkirk  was  on  terms  of  great  intimacy.  He  sought 
him  and  earnestly  besought  him  to  demonstrate 
the  reasons  for  the  northerly  route. 

"If  this  is  persisted  in,  Mr.  Fleming,"  he  ex- 

1  The  Honourable  Charles  Tupper. 
*  Parliamentary  Debates,  April,  1876. 

56 


Sandford  Fleming 

claimed,  "  I  might  as  well  resign  my  representation 
of  Selkirk  in  the  House  of  Commons." 

They  went  over  the  plans  carefully,  and  although 
at  the  end  of  a  four  hours'  interview,  the  member 
for  Selkirk  was  unconvinced  of  the  necessity  for  the 
change  he  was  fully  convinced  of  Fleming's  belief 
in  such  necessity. 

With  this  conviction  he  faced  a  stormy  meeting 
of  his  constituents. 

As  the  action  of  the  Government  in  locating  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway  [he  said],  they  are  and  any 
Government  must  be  in  the  hands  of  their  engineers, 
who  are  alone  qualified  to  give  advice  in  such  matters. 
Mr.  Sandford  Fleming  has  in  this  instance  reported  in 
favour  of  the  northern  route  which  he  has  adopted,  he 
states,  as  the  best  selection  he  could  make,  in  view  of  the 
purposes  for  which  the  railway  is  mainly  constructed. 

It  was  charged  that  the  chief  engineer  had  ar- 
rived at  this  decision  far  too  rapidly  and  without 
sufficient  data. 

But  [declared  Mr.  Smith]  it  has  to  be  borne  in  mind 
that  engineers  are  provided  with  staffs  of  assistants  to 
aid  them.  A  man  of  such  high  character  as  Mr.  Flem- 
ing would  not  come  forward  to  give  recommendations 
of  this  description  unless  he  believed  he  was  acting  in 
accord  with  the  best  interests  of  the  country. 

He  reminded  his  hearers,  further,  that  another 
engineer,  Mr.  Marcus  Smith,  made  a  report,  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  Mr.  Fleming. 

However  [he  went  on],  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I 
have  always,  both  in  and  out  of  the  House  of  Commons, 

57 


Lord  Strath cona 

urged  that  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  should  be 
run  by  the  southern  and  not  by  the  northern  route. 
On  every  possible  occasion  I  have  urged  this  on  the 
Government,  and  I  have  used  every  effort  to  secure 
railroad  communication  through  the  Province.  I  have 
not  only  taken  an  Active  part  myself,  but  I  have  in- 
duced others  to  do  so. 

To  us  this  comes  as  a  great  disappointment.  It  is 
almost  unendurable  that  the  railway,  instead  of  pass- 
ing through  the  centre  of  the  Province,  is  to  go  a  con- 
siderable distance  to  the  north,  touching  it  only  at  one 
point.  The  Minister  of  Public  Works  gives  as  a  reason 
for  this  that  there  would  be  a  saving  of  thirty  miles. 
That  certainly  is  a  very  great  consideration  from  a 
Dominion  point  of  view.  If  this  principle  is  to  be  main- 
tained throughout  the  whole  line,  we  can  hardly  look 
for  an  exception  in  favour  of  Manitoba,  no  matter 
how  much  we  may  regret  the  fact.  A  deputation  from 
Manitoba  has  had  an  interview  with  the  Minister  of 
Public  Works,  and  but  little  hope  is  held  out  of  a 
change  in  the  route.  However,  as  we  cannot  have  this, 
I  am  glad  to  find  an  indication  of  willingness  on  the 
part  of  the  Government  to  assist  the  people  of  Mani- 
toba in  building  another  line  south  of  Lake  Manitoba 
and  running  westward  and  southward  —  such  assist- 
ance to  be  in  the  shape  of  grants  of  land.  I  earnestly 
trust  that  this  disposition  will  be  borne  out  by  fact, 
and  that  such  assistance  will  be  given  as  will  give  our 
people  the  means  of  sending  their  produce  out  of  the 
Province  to  a  favourable  market. 

Mr.  Smith  had  in  view  a  road  running  from  Fort 
Garry  westward  toward  the  south  branch  of  the 
Saskatchewan,  for  a  distance  of  from  one  hundred 

58 


"It  must  not  be!" 

to  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  within  the  Province 
of  Manitoba.  It  might  extend,  however,  for  six  or 
seven  hundred  miles  farther  to  that  portion  of  the 
country  known  as  Bow  River.  That  route  would  be 
south  of  the  arid  country  stretching  to  a  consider- 
able extent  through  the  British  possessions  of  the 
North-West.  It  had  been  said  that  the  desire  was 
to  bring  this  road  too  far  south  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  great  body  of  the  people  of  the  Prov- 
ince. He  denied  that  this  was  the  fact,  and  de- 
clared that  the  requirements  of  the  greater  number 
would  be  duly  considered  before  the  Government 
would  be  asked  for  any  assistance. 

Yet,  even  while  he  professed  submission,  he  did 
not  abandon  hope  that  the  course  of  the  railway 
would  be  changed.  In  a  phrase  which  he  afterwards 
used  on  many  other  occasions  and  notably  to  Sir 
John  Macdonald,  when  the  latter  was  again  in 
power,  "It  must  not  be!"  —  so  now  he  observed 
repeatedly  to  the  Premier,  "I  tell  you,  Mr.  Mac- 
kenzie, it  must  not  be,  it  really  must  not  be" 

Time  passed;  events  happened  and  "it" — so 
greatly  deprecated  —  was  not. 

We  will  now  return  to  the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific  Rail- 
way Company,  over  whose  lines  traffic  between  the 
Red  River  and  St.  Paul  then  passed  and  which  had 
become  bankrupt  in  1873.    It  was  partially  com- 
pleted, in  poor  physical  condition,1  and  laden  with 
a  heavy  burden  of  bonds,  owned  mostly  by  finan- 
ciers in  Holland.   On  the  other  hand,  it  had  a  land 
grant  that  might  be  valuable  later  on  if  it  could  be 
1  The  rails  were  of  iron,  not  steel,  and  fast  rusting. 
59 


Lord  Strathcona 

saved,  terminal  facilities  in  St.  Paul  of  considerable 
present  and  great  potential  value,  and  it  was  the 
predestined  continuous  railroad  route  to  Winnipeg 
by  its  authorized  line  down  the  Red  River  Valley 
to  the  international  boundary,  some  sections  of 
which  had  been  built  and  were  lying  there  in  the 
general  demoralization.  When  Mr.  Smith  saw  that 
construction  had  stopped  and  that  those  in  control 
of  the  property  were  not  likely  to  complete  it,  he 
began  to  consider  if  there  were  any  other  means  to 
that  end. 

He  discussed  the  matter  with  Mr.  Norman  Kitt- 
son,  and  he  also  found  that  Mr.  Hill  had  the  same 
idea;  both  believed  thoroughly  in  the  country,  and 
its  possibilities,  and  in  the  value  of  the  property 
if  it  could  be  secured,  rehabilitated,  and  extended. 
Every  year,  from  1873  on,  Mr.  Smith  passed  through 
St.  Paul  frequently,  and  the  three  men  in  their  con- 
versations came  to  have  a  practical  idea  of  what 
would  have  to  be  done,  and  finally  to  regard  a  pur- 
chase of  the  defaulted  railway  bonds  as  something 
that  might  be  attempted. 

By  1876,  the  time  appeared  to  be  ripe  for  action. 
The  prospects  of  the  property  and  the  country  were 
improving.  Legislation  had  been  passed  making  it 
possible  to  reorganize  a  railroad  company  under 
foreclosure,  allowing  the  bondholders  to  buy  in 
the  property  and  reorganize  without  forfeiting  the 
privileges  belonging  to  the  former  company.  So  in 
March  of  that  year  Mr.  Hill,  being  in  Ottawa,  met 
Mr.  Smith  at  his  house  there,  and  they  decided 
that  the  opportune  time  had  come  and  that  a  prac- 

60 


LORD   MOUNT   STEPHEN 
From  the  painting  by  Frank  Holl,  A  .R.A  . 


Enter  Mr.  George  Stephen 

tical  effort  should  now  be  made  to  see  at  what  price 
the  bonds  could  be  bought.1 

One  of  Mr.  Smith's  intimate  friends  was  Mr.  George 
Stephen,  afterward  Lord  Mount  Stephen,  then  Presi- 
dent of  the  Bank  of  Montreal.  From  the  first  he  had 
endeavoured  to  interest  Mr.  Stephen  in  the  plan.  The 
latter,  who  was  not  at  first  familiar  with  the  country 
or  the  property,  for  a  time  believed  it  not  practicable, 
and  perhaps  not  desirable.  Mr.  Smith's  continued 
representations  finally  induced  him  to  consider  it  more 
favourably;  and  in  the  spring  of  1877,  he  joined  with 
the  others  in  the  enterprise  and  the  effort  to  raise, 
through  moneyed  men  in  London  and  elsewhere,  the 
funds  necessary  to  buy  the  bonds.2 

When  the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific  Railway  Company 
became  bankrupt  [writes  Sir  William  Van  Home],  it 
occurred  to  Mr.  Smith  and  Mr.  Hill  that  they  might 
help  the  transportation  difficulty,  and  do  something 
for  themselves  and  for  the  country  as  well,  by  getting 
control  somehow  of  the  broken-down  property.  They 
needed,  first  of  all,  a  financier,  and  Mr.  Smith  brought 
the  subject  to  the  attention  of  his  cousin,  George 
Stephen  (now  Lord  Mount  Stephen),  a  prominent 
Montreal  merchant  and  the  president  of  the  Bank 

1  "  I  succeeded  in  inducing  some  friends  to  join  with  me  in  taking 
up  the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific  Railway,  now  the  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis  & 
Manitoba  Railway.  Mr.  Stephen  was  one  of  those  who  embarked 
in  the  enterprise,  and  at  the  time  we  certainly  did  not  expect  to  make 
much  profit  out  of  it,  but  we  did  desire,  and  that  very  earnestly,  to 
have  a  road  into  our  own  North-West  country.  Contrary  to  the 
wish  of  our  associates,  we  made  it  a  condition  that  it  should  be  con- 
tinued on  to  the  boundary  to  meet  a  line  at  Pembina,  a  proposition 
which  they  thought  was  very  foolish,  indeed,  as  it  would  result  in  no 
profit,  but  in  a  loss  to  the  company."  (Parliamentary  Debates,  May 
26,  1887.) 

*  Memorandum  of  J.  J.  Hill  to  the  author. 

61 


Lord  Strathcona 

of  Montreal,  who  at  first  scouted  the  idea.  But 
Mr.  Smith  was,  as  always,  persistent,  and  he  gave  Mr. 
Stephen  no  rest. 

Just  then  occurred  a  serious  failure  of  a  steel  com- 
pany in  Illinois  which  involved  the  Chicago  agency  of 
the  Bank  of  Montreal  in  a  heavy  loss,  and  Mr.  Stephen 
with  Mr.  Richard  B.  Angus,  the  general  manager  of 
the  Bank,  hastened  to  Chicago  to  do  what  they  could. 
After  some  days  the  proceedings  of  the  law  courts 
gave  them  a  week  of  idleness  and  they  tossed  a  coin  to 
determine  whether  to  use  it  in  a  visit  to  St.  Paul  or 
St.  Louis.  Fortunately  for  them,  it  fell  to  St.  Paul, 
and  Stephen  said,  "  I  am  rather  glad  of  that,  for  it  will 
give  us  an  opportunity  to  see  the  railroad  Smith  has 
talked  about  so  much."  They  had  heard  of  Mr.  Hill 
through  Mr.  Smith,  and  on  reaching  St.  Paul,  they 
looked  him  up.  He  arranged  for  a  special  train  to 
Breckenridge  and  they  ran  out  one  day  and  returned 
at  night. 

Mr.  Stephen  had  never  before  seen  a  prairie  and 
was  much  impressed  by  its  beauties  and  possibilities, 
although  at  the  time  the  plague  of  locusts  which  had 
devastated  all  that  region  for  nearly  two  years,  and 
which  continued  more  than  a  year  afterwards,  had 
given  the  country  a  bleak  and  barren  look  and  had 
compelled  nearly  all  the  settlers  to  abandon  their 
homes.  Mr.  Stephen  knew  that  such  plagues  had 
visited  many  parts  of  the  world  many  times  since  his- 
tory began,  knew  that  they  were  frequent,  but  knew 
that  they  never  continued  long,  and  he  gave  the  locusts 
no  serious  thought.  He  knew  the  Americans  and  knew 
that  the  settlers  would  quickly  return  to  their  lands 
when  the  locusts  should  go,  and  that  these  settlers 
would  prosper  and  be  followed  by  many  more. 

62 


The  Dutch  Bondholders 

Then  came  visits  to  the  representatives  of  the 
Dutch  bondholders  whose  interest  was  long  in  default. 
Mr.  Stephen  urged  these  bondholders  to  join  him  and 
his  friends  in  reorganizing  the  company  and  extending 
the  railroad  down  the  valley  of  the  Red  River  some 
hundreds  of  miles  to  the  Canadian  boundary  and  spoke 
of  the  great  fortunes  to  be  made  by  it.  But  the  Dutch- 
men were  not  to  be  moved.  They  had  lost  much 
money,  they  were  tired  and  disgusted,  and  the  locusts 
were  yet  there.  "Take  our  bonds  at  a  price  and  make 
all  that  money  yourselves,"  said  they.  Mr.  Stephen 
replied  that  he  and  his  associates  could  not  take  the 
bonds  at  any  price  unless  they  could  be  sure  of  the 
necessary  legislation  in  Minnesota.  "How  long  will 
that  take?"  asked  the  Dutchmen.  "Six  months," 
replied  Mr.  Stephen.  "Then,"  said  the  Dutchmen, 
"we  will  give  you  an  option  for  a  nominal  amount  on 
our  bonds  for  eight  months  at  a  price  less  than  the 
accrued  interest  on  them."  And  Stephen  came  away 
with  the  option.1 

This  was  in  1876.  An  association  was  immedi- 
ately formed,  consisting  of  George  Stephen,  Donald 

1  Most  of  these  bonds  were  held  by  a  committee  of  the  owners 
in  Amsterdam,  called  the  "Dutch  Committee."  Through  the  year 
1877,  various  tentative  propositions  were  considered  in  the  negotia- 
tions opened  with  this  committee.  The  associated  purchasers  were 
all  men  of  modest  means.  It  was  found  impossible  to  procure  outside 
capital  in  amount  sufficient  to  purchase  for  cash,  because  men  in  a 
position  to  command  it  were  not  familiar  with  the  country  and  had 
been  made  distrustful  by  the  misfortune  of  other  American  railroad 
investments.  The  bondholders  stood  out  for  the  best  terms  they 
could  make;  but  further  delay  threatening  the  sacrifice  of  some  of 
the  company's  rights  and  its  property  unless  they  were  ready  to  put 
in  a  large  additional  sum  of  money,  they  finally  entered,  February 
13,  1878,  into  an  agreement  of  purchase  and  sale  on  new  conditions 
with  four  associates,  Donald  A.  Smith,  James  J.  Hill,  George  Stephen, 
and  Norman  W.  Kittson. 

63 


Lord  Strathcona 

A.  Smith,  James  J.  Hill,  Richard  B.  Angus,  John 
S.  Kennedy,  and  Norman  W.  Kittson.  The  compara- 
tively small  amount  required  for  preliminary  expenses 
was  provided  between  them,  the  reorganization  plan 
was  carried  out,  the  necessary  legislation  hurried 
through  at  St.  Paul  by  Mr.  Hill,  and  the  St.  Paul, 
Minneapolis  &  Manitoba  Railway  Company  (now 
called  the  Great  Northern)  was  born.1  New  bonds 
were  created  for  putting  the  old  railway  in  order,  for 
new  equipment  and  for  the  extension  northward. 
Enough  of  these  bonds  were  quickly  marketed  to  pay 
off  the  Dutch  bondholders.  Then  more  were  sold  and 
active  operations  began;  and  then  early  in  July,  1877, 
the  locusts  disappeared.  Immediately  the  settlers 
who  had  left  the  country  returned  and  the  suspended 
movement  of  people  to  the  western  lands  was  resumed 
at  an  enormously  increased  rate. 

"  From  that  time  to  this  the  history  of  the  company 
has  been  one  of  enterprise,  energy,  and  boundless  suc- 
cess. The  railway  built  up  the  country  and  the  for- 
tunes of  its  promoters  grew  a  pace.  The  names  of  these 
men  are  held  almost  in  reverence  throughout  the  vast 
region  served  by  the  many  thousands  of  miles  of  rail- 
ways they  have  made,  and  among  these  names  not  the 
least  is  that  of  Donald  A.  Smith  (Lord  Strathcona). 
The  great  corporation  created  by  these  men,  unlike 
some  of  the  earlier  American  railway  corporations, 
has  never  been  smirched  by  charges  of  stock- jobbing, 
money-grabbing,  or  questionable  practices  of  any 
kind.  The  vast  rewards  which  have  come  to  it  repre- 
sent merely  a  fair  participation  in  the  wealth  its  found- 
ers created  for  the  country  at  large."  * 

1  Memorandum  by  James  J.  Hill. 
1  Sir  William  Van  Home. 

64 


Acquisition  of  the  Railway 

Turning  to  Mr.  Hill's  narrative,  he  says:  — 

The  old  bonds  were  turned  in  at  varying  prices 
which,  though  more  or  less  below  face,  were  well  above 
their  market  value  at  the  time.  Payment  was  to  be 
made  within  six  months  of  the  sale  of  the  properties 
under  foreclosure,  either  in  gold  or  in  first  mortgage 
gold  bonds  of  the  new  company  to  be  organized  by 
the  associates.  Until  then  they  were  to  pay  interest  on 
the  purchase  price,  and  they  assumed  all  the  risks  and 
all  the  expenses  of  completing  unfinished  lines.  It  was 
stipulated  under  bond  that  they  should  build  to  St. 
Vincent  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  in  not  to  exceed 
two  years  from  date.  They  pledged  all  they  had  in  the 
world  to  carry  through  what  nearly  everybody  then 
regarded  as  a  probable  failure. 

The  new  control  pushed  matters.  The  new  lines 
were  built,  operation  was  systematized,  the  seasons 
were  favourable,  settlers  came  pouring  in,  the  coun- 
try developed,  the  business  of  the  railroad  grew.  On 
May  23,  1879,  these  four  men,  together  with  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  banking  house  of  John  S.  Kennedy  & 
Company,  of  New  York  City,  organized  the  St.  Paul, 
Minneapolis  &  Manitoba  Railway  Company,  the 
parent  company  of  the  Great  Northern  of  to-day. 
From  that  time  onward,  the  history  of  the  enterprise  in 
which  Donald  A.  Smith  had  so  large  a  share  was  one  of 
unceasing  growth  and  increasing  prosperity.1 

Having  by  these  strenuous  exertions  acquired 
the  road  and  carried  it  to  the  Canadian  boundary, 
the  next  step  was  to  obtain  a  lease  of  the  line  of  rail- 
way which  had  been  built  by  the  Government  from 

1  Memorandum,  ubi  supra. 
65 


Lord  Strathcona 

Winnipeg  to  Pembina  in  order  to  link  it  there  with 
the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific. 

In  every  country  there  is  a  set  of  men  so  jealous 
of  capital  and  suspicious  of  enterprise  likely  to 
create  wealth  for  others  than  themselves  that, 
should  a  political  antagonism  also  exist,  they  will 
spare  no  effort  to  defeat  a  project  destined  for  the 
public  good.  It  was  so  in  this  case  and  will  be 
so  in  other  instances  hereafter.  One  records  with 
regret  that  Sir  John  Macdonald  opposed  the  grant- 
ing of  the  lease,  chiefly  because  he  was  advised  that 
the  Government  of  the  day  intended  to  grant  it 
and  he  was  in  opposition,  but  partly  also  because 
he  had  not  yet  forgiven  Mr.  Smith  for  his  failure 
to  support  him  at  the  crisis  of  1873.  Forces  were 
brought  to  bear  to  defeat  the  measure,  but  in  vain. 

A  great  deal  was  said  at  the  time  about  the  exist- 
ence of  a  railway  monopoly,  which  would  grind 
down  the  farmers  and  producers  of  the  North -West. 

It  is  important  [stated  Mr.  Smith]  for  the  Govern- 
ment to  have  connection  made  with  advantage  to  the 
railway;  but  the  Government  has  secured  the  people 
against  extortion  or  excess  of  charges.  If  I  say  any- 
thing on  behalf  of  the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific  promoters,  it 
is  that  our  first  proposition  submitted  to  the  Govern- 
ment was  so  moderate  in  their  own  interests  and  bene- 
ficial to  this  Province  that  the  Government  did  not 
consider  that  anything  fairer  could  be  asked  for.  What 
were  the  terms?  That  we  might  have  the  power  to 
run  the  road  for  five  years  which  term  might  be  ex- 
tended for  another  five  on  a  mutual  agreement,  and 
that  the  rates  should  be  reasonable.  Well,  how  were 

66 


Rail  vs.  River  Tariffs 

we  to  arrive  at  what  were  reasonable  rates?  It  was 
arranged  that  the  Government  should  appoint  an  ar- 
bitrator, the  railway  men  another,  and  if  these  two 
did  not  agree  upon  a  third,  then  they  should  go  to  the 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Canada  to  ap- 
point him.  This  was  the  offer  of  those  monopolists,  of 
those  who  would  grind  us  down.  I  ask  you  —  could 
anything  be  more  liberal?  When  I  tell  you  further  that 
the  road  is  entirely  controlled  by  Canadians  —  though 
while  no  men  were  more  honourable  than  the  merchants 
of  the  United  States,  we  naturally  had  a  leaning  for 
our  own  people  and  preferred  to  see  the  work  in  their 
own  hands,  when  it  was  in  the  hands  of  Canadian  cap- 
italists. I  asked  if  they  were  not  perfectly  safe  against 
extortion  and  excessive  charges. 

In  the  course  of  the  debate  in  Parliament  on  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Act  Amendment  Bill,1 
in  the  spring  of  1878,  Mr.  Smith  disclosed  some 
interesting  particulars  he  had  obtained  of  the 
transportation  rates  then  charged  by  different  com- 
panies in  the  North-West,  to  show  that  the  heavy 
rates  and  great  extortion  complained  of  did  not 
rest  wholly  with  the  Red  River  Transportation 
Company 

From  J.  J.  Hill  to  D.  A.  Smith 

ST.  PAUL,  2ist  April,  1878. 

I  beg  herewith  to  send  you  the  particulars  you  ask 
for  with  regard  to  the  transportation  rates.  The  first- 
class  passage  from  St.  Paul  to  Winnipeg  is  $20.  Of  this 
amount  the  Northern  Pacific  will  not  accept  anything 
1  To  lease  the  Pembina  Branch. 
67 


Lord  Strathcona 

less  than  $10  for  carrying  passengers  244  miles  to 
Glyndon,  which  is  made  within  twelve  hours.  From 
that  point  to  Fisher's  Landing,  or  rather  Crookston, 
the  other  portion  of  the  line  belonging  to  the  Red  River 
Transportation  Company,  a  distance  of  70  miles,  $2.50 
is  charged.  There  remains  the  transit  by  the  Red 
River  Transportation  Company,  for  a  distance  of  380 
miles,  occupying  two  or  three  days,  on  the  river,  for 
which  $7.50  is  charged.  Thus  for  transportation  over 
244  miles,  the  Northern  Pacific  obtains  $10,  that  for 
70  miles  $2.50  was  exacted,  and  that  for  380  miles, 
extending  over  two  or  three  days,  only  $7.50  is  paid. 
For  second-class  passage,  $12  is  paid  for  the  whole  dis- 
tance, of  which  $6  was  taken  by  the  Northern  Pacific 
for  244  miles,  while  the  Red  River  Transportation 
Company  obtains  an  amount  in  the  same  proportion 
as  I  have  given  for  the  first-class  passengers.  So  much 
for  the  so-called  "extortion"  of  the  Red  River  Trans- 
portation Company. 

On  August  3,  1878,  a  lease  was  granted  to  Mr. 
Stephen  giving  to  the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific  Railway 
running  powers  for  ten  years  over  the  Pembina 
Branch. 

I  will  not  dwell  upon  the  protracted  trials  of  these 
gentlemen  in  their  efforts  to  secure  rail  communica- 
tion and  their  frequent  failures,  which  only  nerved 
them  to  try  again;  and  within  three  months  those 
present  will  see  that  they  had  at  last  succeeded.  Within 
that  space  of  time  the  cars  will  be  running  up  from  St. 
Boniface  to  St.  Paul,  and  within  a  short  period  after, 
the  iron  horse  will  be  on  the  rails  on  this  side  of  the 
river.  I  feel  gratified  on  receiving  a  telegram  from  my 
friend  Mr.  George  Stephen,  a  most  enterprising  mer- 

68 


Mr.  Stephen's  Confidence 

chant,  and,  as  nearly  every  one  present  knows,  the 
president  of  the  Bank  of  Montreal,  —  a  gentleman 
greatly  interested  in  opening  communication  with 
Manitoba. 

Mr.  Stephen  had  gone  west  in  the  summer  of 
1878  and  travelled  up  the  railway  to  Fisher's  Land- 
ing, and  along  the  St.  Vincent  extension,  and  on  his 
return  to  Montreal  wired  Mr.  Smith  a  despatch 
expressing  his  confidence  that  a  train  would  be  in 
Winnipeg  in  October. 

But  even  if  we  discount  this  confidence,  if,  however, 
taking  the  latest  time  possible  and  allow  for  some 
unforeseen  circumstance,  we  should  have  rail  commun- 
ication with  the  outside  world  —  that  we  could  leave 
here  in  the  evening  and  be  in  St.  Paul  the  following 
day  —  what  a  boon  that  will  be!  And,  gentlemen, 
mark  my  words,  we  will  do  it! 

Relating  his  experiences  at  this  time  and  the  in- 
ducements offered  to  Messrs.  Stephen  and  Angus 
to  come  to  see  this  bankrupt  railway,  Mr.  Smith 
said  afterwards :  — 

They  finally  yielded  to  my  persuasion  and  came. 
They  saw  the  fine  prairies  of  northern  Minnesota;  they 
saw  the  golden  grain  in  fields  and  in  mounds;  they 
looked  with  amazement,  for  they  had  no  conception  of 
such  a  country  —  even  one  of  which  they  had  heard  so 
much.  Up  here  in  Manitoba,  they  were  still  better 
pleased  with  the  excellence  of  the  land.  They  saw  and 
felt  that  Canada  had  a  very  great  country ;  to  make  it 
profitable  —  for  it  to  become  the  granary  of  Canada 
and  Europe  —  it  had  merely  to  be  opened.  These 
capitalists,  these  prominent  men,  were  looked  upon  at 

69 


Lord  Strathcona 

home  as  sober,  serious  citizens,  but  when  they  returned 
from  the  West,  they  were  almost  beside  themselves,  and 
advised  every  one  they  met  to  "go  West.'/  And  some 
of  these  gentlemen  were  able  to  infuse  the  enthusiasm 
they  contained  into  others  who  knew  little  previously 
of  the  North- West.  They  were  helped,  and  helped  con- 
siderably, by  the  magnificent  speech  of  Lord  Dufferin 
in  which  he  declared  that  Manitoba  was  not  only  use- 
ful to  the  rest  of  Canada,  but  was  the  "  bull's  eye  of  the 
Dominion." 

It  is  hardly  within  the  prescribed  scope  of  these 
pages  to  do  more  than  refer  to  certain  vexatious 
litigation  which  attended  the  transfer  of  the  inter- 
ests of  the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific  Railway  Company  to 
Mr.  Smith  and  his  associates.  But  inasmuch  as  the 
transaction  has  been  the  subject  of  such  gross  mis- 
conception, a  summary  of  it  may  be  considered 
called  for  in  this  place. 

When,  in  1873,  the  railway  went  into  bankruptcy, 
one  James  J.  Farley,  a  person  with  an  indifferent 
reputation,  was  appointed  official  receiver.  The 
interests  of  the  Dutch  bondholders  were  in  the 
hands  of  Mr.  J.  S.  Kennedy,  of  New  York.  In  or- 
der to  obtain  financial  control  and  rehabilitate  the 
railway,  it  was  necessary  to  deal  with  Farley. 

Farley  claimed  to  have 

knowledge,  not  possessed  by  any  of  the  other  parties, 
as  to  the  whereabouts  of  the  bonds,  the  rated  value 
thereof  by  holders,  and  the  mode  whereby  these  could 
be  procured;  also  in  respect  to  the  situation,  amount, 
character,  and  value  of  the  lines  of  railroad  and  prop- 
erty mortgaged  to  secure  said  bonds  and  in  respect  to 

70 


Farley's  Charges 


the  pending  suits  for  the  foreclosure  of  said  mort- 
gages, and  that  the  services  of  the  plaintiff  in  respect 
to  all  of  said  matters  and  his  cooperation  were  indis- 
pensable to  the  success  of  said  enterprise.1 

He  gave  this  information  to  Messrs.  Kittson  and 
Hill  in  the  first  instance,  and  claimed  to  have  en- 
tered into  a  secret  agreement  with  them  to  share 
certain  profits  to  be  derived. 

Thereupon  Kittson  made  arrangements  with  and 
procured  Donald  A.  Smith,  in  conjunction  with 
George  Stephen,  to  agree  to  furnish  and  advance 
funds  necessary  to  purchase  the  bonds,  and  carry  out 
said  enterprise,  and  as  plaintiff  is  informed  and  be- 
lieved, the  said  defendant  Kittson,  by  and  with  the 
consent  of  the  defendant  Hill,  but  without  the 
knowledge  or  consent  of  the  plaintiff,  and  in  violation 
of  the  understanding  and  agreement  before  mentioned, 
agreed  with  Smith  and  Stephen,  that  the  latter  should 
have  and  hold,  for  their  own  use  and  benefit,  three 
fifths  or  sixty  per  cent  interest  in  said  undertaking  and 
enterprise.  Subsequently,  Smith  and  Stephen,  aided 
by  Hill,  Kittson,  and  plaintiff,  opened  a  court  of  ne- 
gotiations (between  1877  and  1879)  for  the  purchase  of 
said  bonds,  and  as  a  result  of  such  negotiation,  Smith 
and  Stephen  purchased  about  twenty  million  dollars, 
in  amount,  of  the  bonds.  2 

In  the  legal  proceedings,  it  was  indignantly  de- 
nied by  Mr.  Kennedy  that  either  he  or  the  holders 
of  any  of  the  mortgaged  bonds  knew  of  Farley's 
interest  in  the  project  for  purchasing  said  bonds. 

1  The  plaintiff's  plea  in  the  subsequent  lawsuit. 
1  Minnesota  Reports,  vol.  xxvn. 

71 


Lord  Strathcona 

Nor  did  Kennedy  even  suspect  at  any  time  that 
Farley  ever  claimed  to  have  any  such  interest,  as 
receiver  of  the  railway,  then  covered  by  a  fifteen- 
million-dollar  mortgage.  Moreover,  how  could  Far- 
ley lawfully  make  any  such  agreement,  or  engage 
in  the  enterprise  of  purchasing  the  bonds?  The 
mere  making  of  such  an  agreement  and  the  em- 
barking in  such  an  enterprise  by  him. would  have 
been  "  a  breach  of  trust  on  his  part  as  such  receiver, 
and  a  fraud  on  the  holders  of  the  bonds,  and  a  fraud 
on  the  court,  whose  receiver  he  was." 

On  the  other  hand,  as  general  manager  of  the 
trustees,  Farley  occupied  a  situation  of  confidence 
toward  his  employers ;  by  making  any  such  agree- 
ment as  he  alleged  and  by  engaging  in  the  enterprise 
of  purchasing  the  bonds  and  said  mortgaged  prop- 
erty, he  would  have  been  guilty  of  a  breach  of  trust 
toward,  and  a  fraud  upon,  the  trustees  and  the 
bondholders. 

But  while  privately  stigmatizing  Farley's  infa- 
mous charge  of  conspiracy,  the  St.  Paul,  Minne- 
apolis &  Manitoba  Company  (as  it  was  now)  were 
advised,  as  the  speediest  method  of  disposing  of 
the  case,  to  ignore  the  issue  raised  altogether,  and 
simply  to  put  forward  the  plea  that,  by  reason  of 
the  fiduciary  position  occupied  by  the  plaintiff,  he 
was  not  entitled  to  the  aid  of  a  court  of  equity  to 
enforce  any  of  the  agreements  mentioned  or  any  of 
the  rights  claimed  by  him. 

Therefore  these  defendants  do  plead,  whether  they 
should  be  compelled  to  make  further  answer  to  the  said 
bill,  and  pray  to  be  hence  dismissed,  with  their  reason- 

72 


A  Monstrous  Charge  dismissed 

able  costs  and  charges  in  this  behalf  most  wrongfully 
sustained. 

In  rendering  his  decision  the  Federal  judge  treated 
Farley's  plea  with  merited  severity.  He  said: — 

This  is  a  strange  demand  to  present  to  a  court  of 
equity.  To  what  extent  the  alleged  confederates  are 
blameworthy  or  culpable,  if  at  all,  can  be  made  to 
appear  only  after  necessary  and  full  proofs.  The  court, 
however,  must  dispose  of  the  case  as  now  presented. 
Surely  no  principle  of  equity,  morals,  or  law  could 
countenance  such  a  demand,  and  no  court  worthy  of 
its  trust  would  lend  its  aid  to  further  a  scheme  so  ab- 
horrent to  all  recognized  rules  of  right  and  justice.1 

The  plea  of  the  defendants  was  sustained  and  the 
suit  against  them  dismissed  with  costs. 

The  whole  case  aroused  widespread  interest,  and 
an  attempt  was  made  in  some  quarters  to  create 
another  "railway  scandal,"  of  a  too-familiar  type, 
out  of  it.  But  the  attempt  miserably  failed.  To  a 
plain  man  knowing  Farley's  character  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  defendants,  and  appraising  the  charges 
as  presented  in  court,  no  possible  doubt  could 
exist  that  the  promoters  of  the  railway  had  acted 
throughout  as  honourable  men,  and  that  the  plans 
of  a  simple  blackmailer  had  happily  miscarried. 

The  determination  of  the  Government  that  the 
main  line  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  was  not 
to  pass  through  Winnipeg  continued  to  be  a  source 
of  deep  dissatisfaction.  But  Mr.  Smith  was  not  dis- 
couraged.    He  told  his  constituents:  — 
1  Federal  Reporter,  vol.  xiv. 
73 


Lord  Strathcona 

Our  next  step,  after  securing  the  road  to  St.  Boni- 
face, should  be  a  railway  through  the  country  now 
becoming  so  thickly  settled.  I  see  no  reason  why  it 
should  not  be  built;  it  should  already  be  running. 
Three  or  four  years  ago  a  charter  was  obtained  for  a 
road  running  south-west  from  Winnipeg;  the  scheme 
was  shown  the  Government,  which  seemed  inclined 
toward  it.  I  introduced  a  gentleman  well  known  here, 
Mr.  John  Ross,  to  the  Premier,  and  in  conversation  in 
regard  to  the  railway,  Mr.  Mackenzie  expressed  him- 
self most  favourably,  and  so  did  the  then  Minister  of 
Interior,  indeed  so  far  as  to  speak  of  the  necessary 
grant  of  land  and  the  arrangements  for  commencing 
the  work  within  a  short  time.  Some  gentlemen  here, 
however,  stepped  in  and  thwarted  the  scheme,  which 
was  hardly  to  be  expected  from  those  in  the  Province, 
even  if  the  line  did  not  run  within  a  few  yards  of  their 
lands.  The  scheme,  however,  was  only  postponed,  and 
I  believe  that  within  eighteen  months  a  railway  west 
will  be  commenced.  We  need  not  then  care  whether 
the  proposed  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  was  built  to 
the  north  or  south  of  Lake  Manitoba,  or  whether  it 
was  built  at  all,  so  long  as  we  would  have,  for  all  prac- 
tical purposes,  and  for  the  wants  of  the  country,  a  well- 
built  road  to  take  in  supplies  to  the  hundreds,  soon  to 
be  thousands,  who  will  make  their  homes  in  the  North- 
West,  and  who  will  enrich  Manitoba  and  Winnipeg. 
I  know  that  Manitoba  is  a  small  spot,  —  on  the  map 
it  looked  little  enough,  —  but  in  a  short  time  it  will 
have  extended  its  limits.  The  boundary  difficulty 
between  Ontario  and  the  North-West  was  the  only 
difficulty  in  the  way,  and  that  now  being  dispelled, 
our  boundaries  to  the  eastward  and  to  the  westward 
will  be  extended,  through  Manitoba  to  the  Little  Sas- 

74 


Disheartening  Indecision 

katchewan  I  trust,  and  circumstances  warrant  me  in 
believing  a  railway  will  be  running  in  a  very  short 
time. 

Soon  it  appeared  that  the  Mackenzie  Govern- 
ment was  weakening  on  the  question  of  the  route 
north  of  Winnipeg. 

The  Prime  Minister  (Mr.  Mackenzie)  stated  that 
the  principal  reason  for  carrying  the  railway  from 
Red  River  north  of  Lake  Manitoba  to  Fort  Pelly 
was  to  shorten  the  distance  to  the  destined  capital 
of  the  North-West. 

I  hope  [declared  Mr.  Smith],  now  that  the  seat  of 
Government  for  the  North-West  Territory  is  to  be 
removed  to  a  point  some  three  hundred  miles  west 
and  somewhat  south  of  that  first  proposed,  the  Prime 
Minister  might  see  his  way  to  consider  the  location  of 
this  portion  of  the  line  so  as  to  bring  it  south  of  Lake 
Manitoba,  an  alteration  which  would  confer  a  very 
great  benefit  on  the  Province  of  Manitoba,  and  would 
command  the  approval  and  hearty  thanks  of  its  peo- 
ple. I  believe  that  the  statement  and  explanation  of 
the  Premier  will  give  general  satisfaction. 

Before  his  heart  had  been  wrapped  up  in  the 
St.  Paul  &  Pacific,  he  had  been  seriously  disquieted 
by  the  shilly-shallying  in  its  railway  policy,  of  the 
Mackenzie  Government. 

I  am  beginning  to  lose  heart  over  the  Canadian  Pa- 
cific Railway  and  to  attach  less  and  less  importance  to 
it  as  a  means  of  saving  the  situation  at  large. 

This  he  wrote  in  1876.   A  year  later,  he  said:  — 

75 


Lord  Strathcona 

In  so  far  as  the  facilities  given  for  bringing  in  the 
supplies  and  sending  out  their  products  is  concerned, 
it  matters  little  how  the  people  of  Manitoba  get  it,  so 
long  as  they  get  it. 

How  characteristic  of  him  it  was,  that  up  to  the 
debate  of  1878,  Mr.  Smith  had  not  considered  it 
either  desirable  or  necessary  to  confirm  or  deny  the 
reports  concerning  his  personal  connection  with  the 
St.  Paul  &  Minnesota  Railway.1  His  reason  for 
silence  was  to  avoid  bringing  down  upon  his  head 
the  very  charges  of  illicit  interest  and  political  cor- 
ruption which  Sir  John  Macdonald,  then  leader  of 
the  Opposition,  launched  at  him  and  from  which 
he  defended  himself. 

The  honourable  gentleman  [observed  Sir  John  with 
unnecessary  heat]  admitted  he  was  a  partner  in  this 
concern,  and  the  House  should  know  something 
about  it. 

I  beg  the  right  honourable  gentleman's  pardon 
[replied  Mr.  Smith],  I  admitted  no  such  thing!  The 
honourable  gentleman,  I  hope,  is  not  my  father  con- 
fessor. 

The  honourable  gentleman  [retorted  the  leader  of 
the  Opposition]  has  not  denied  it,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that,  if  he  could  have  done  so,  he  would.  A  little  while 
ago,  he  denied  positively  that  he  had  any  interest  in 

1  The  St.  Paul  Pioneer  Press  first  stated  editorially  on  March  7, 
1878,  that  the  purchasers  of  the  bonds  of  the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific 
Railway  were  Messrs.  Hill  and  Kittson,  associated  with  Mr.  Stephen 
of  the  Bank  of  Montreal,  and  Donald  A.  Smith.  It  asserted  that, 
through  the  influence  of  the  latter,  the  support  and  cooperation  of 
the  Dominion  Government  have  been  obtained  in  the  adjustment 
of  their  connections  with  the  railway  system  in  Manitoba. 

76 


Replies  to  Opposition  Leader 

the  Kittson  line,  because  he  could  say  so.   But  he  does 
not  deny  that  he  has  an  interest  in  the  St.  Paul  line. 

To  this  Mr.  Smith  rejoined  that  it  was  neither 
necessary  nor  desirable  to  satisfy  the  right  honour- 
able gentleman's  curiosity. 

Whatever  I  have  done  in  this  respect  I  have  done  in 
the  most  open  manner  possible.  When  it  was  found 
that  others  could  do  nothing  in  the  way  of  getting 
better  railway  facilities  and  completing  the  railway 
connections  in  Manitoba,  I  certainly,  as  a  Member 
from  the  Province,  did  my  utmost  to  effect  that.  As  I 
said  on  another  occasion  in  this  House,  for  two  or  three 
years  back  I  have  laboured  earnestly  to  that  end  in 
connection  with  some  friends,  and  no  sooner  did  it 
become  possible  to  get  that  which  was  so  much  re- 
quired —  indeed  an  absolute  necessity  for  the  country 
—  than  the  honourable  gentleman  and  his  friends  put 
every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  its  being  carried  out.  He 
comes  to  this  House  and  says  that  the  Government  is 
actuated  by  unworthy  motives  in  proposing  to  make 
running  arrangements  with  the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific 
Company  over  the  Pembina  Branch,  and  that  it  was 
their  intention  to  reward  me  in  this  way  for  my  ser- 
vile adherence  to  them.  Now  I  would  like  to  ask  the 
honourable  gentleman  for  Kingston  [Sir  John  Mac- 
donald]  and  any  member  of  his  Government,  if  on  any 
occasion  they  found  a  disposition  on  my  part  to  ask 
or  receive  any  favour  from  the  Government,  either  for 
myself  or  for  that  corporation  which  has  been  so  much 
spoken  of,  and  which  I  have  had  the  honour  of  repre- 
senting —  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company?  I  would  ask 
the  honourable  member  if  I  have  received  one  sixpence 
of  public  money,  or  one  place,  either  for  myself,  or  for 

77 


Lord  Strathcona 

any  other  person  connected  with  me,  and  if  at  this 
moment  there  is  one  single  person  related  to  myself 
who  receives  one  sixpence  of  the  public  money. 

There  could  be  but  one  answer  to  this  question. 
Throughout  his  political  career  Donald  A.  Smith 
never  asked  for  either  place  or  favour.  As  a  mem- 
ber of  Parliament  he  drew  no  salary.  As  a  Govern- 
ment Commissioner  he  accepted  neither  salary  nor 
indemnity,  even  paying  his  own  expenses.  When 
in  the  course  of  time  he  became  Canada's  represen- 
tative abroad,  he  forewent  the  emoluments  of  that 
office. 

One  passes  hastily  over  the  conclusion  of  this 
debate  in  Parliament,  as  one  draws  a  veil  over  fea- 
tures dear  to  us,  but  so  distorted  as  to  provoke  in 
the  spectator  a  sentiment  of  pain.  A  scene  occurred 

—  "the  most  disgraceful,"  wrote  George  Brown, 
"in  the  annals  of  the  Canadian  House  of  Commons" 

—  when  Sir  John  Macdonald  lost  his  temper,  and 
together  with  his  lieutenant,  Sir  Charles  Tupper, 
indulged  in  vituperative  language  for  which  he  was 
afterwards  sincerely  ashamed.    Physical  violence 
on  both  sides  was  narrowly  prevented,  and  in  such 
manner  was  the  Session  of  1878  brought  to  an  un- 
dignified if  dramatic  close. 

In  the  succeeding  election  Mr.  Smith  was  again 
a  candidate  for  Selkirk.  On  the  hustings  he  dis- 
claimed the  title  of  "  Mackenzieite "  which  his 
opponent  foisted  upon  him.  He  denied  that  he  had 
ever  been  a  slavish  supporter  of  either  the  present 
or  the  previous  Administration.  Throughout  his 
parliamentary  career  he  had  been  absolutely  inde- 


His  Political  Independence 

pendent  and  had  never  received  a  personal  favour 
from  either  the  present  or  previous  Government  to 
the  extent  of  one  single  dollar. 

In  respect  to  Mr.  Morris's  charge  that  as  head  of  a 
great  corporation,  I  would  lack  weight  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  how  did  that  compare  with  the  honour- 
able gentleman's  assertion  that  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons I  have  been  able  to  exercise  undue  influence  in 
favour  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company?  There  is  a 
manifest  inconsistency  here. 

If  I  have  lost  influence  on  account  of  my  connection 
with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  how  was  it  that 
again  and  again  during  the  canvass  I  have  been  ac- 
cused of  having  such  power  with  the  Government  as 
to  be  almost  a  dictator?  The  argument  of  my  honour- 
able friend  does  not  hang  together  logically.  But  the 
fact  is  that  when  I  was  returned  to  Ottawa  by  the 
voice  of  the  people  of  this  Province,  I  would  command 
an  influence  there,  and  I  intend  to  exercise  that  influ- 
ence to  the  fullest  extent.  The  honourable  gentleman 
might  speak  slightingly  of  the  business  habits  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  officers,  as  he  had  done,  but 
those  knowing  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  knew  that 
it  ranked  among  its  officers  many  of  just  as  much  intel- 
ligence, business  habits,  and  commercial  morality  and 
honour  as  were  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world. 
The  Governor-General  at  a  dinner  given  in  his  honour 
in  this  city,  had  given  his  meed  of  praise  to  those 
gentlemen,  and  that  was  a  testimony  on  which  they 
might  rest. 

I  do  not  profess  to  be  a  Cicero.  I  leave  that  dis- 
tinction to  my  honourable  friend.  They  boast  a 
Disraeli  and  a  Gladstone  in  England  —  men  of  abil- 
ity, power,  and  persuasive  eloquence.  In  this  country 

79 


Lord  Strathcona 

we  have  a  Blake  and  a  Sir  John  Macdonald  —  men 
ranking  high  as  orators.  But  no  doubt  my  honourable 
friend  will  show  that  these  men  have  dwindled  into 
insignificance  —  that  in  comparison  with  his,  their 
powers  of  persuasion  are  vastly  inferior  and  their  skill 
in  argument  not  to  be  mentioned  in  the  same  breath.1 

The  Mackenzie  Government  did  not  receive  at 
the  polls  throughout  the  Dominion  generally  the 
support  expected.  At  a  meeting,  the  evening  pre- 
vious to  the  polling,  Mr.  Smith  had  told  the  elec- 
tors that  he  had  given  an  independent  support  to 
Mr.  Mackenzie's  Government,  and  he  would  con- 
sider it  his  bounden  duty,  when  elected,  to  sustain 
any  Government  in  passing  such  measures  as  were 
in  the  interests  of  the  people  of  Manitoba  and  the 
North-West.  All  measures  introduced  into  Parlia- 
ment with  that  end  in  view,  he  would  sustain  and 
advance  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 

As  to  the  defeat  of  the  present  Administration,  one 
reason  above  all  others  which  brought  this  about  was 
the  idea  which  got  into  the  minds  of  many  people 
of  the  country,  and,  indeed,  had  been  industriously 
instilled  into  them  —  that  the  great  and  widespread 
depression  prevailing  was  the  fault  of  the  Government. 
That  had  more  to  do  with  their  defeat,  apparently, 
than  everything  else  put  together.  Throughout  his 

1  A  further  example  of  his  platform  satire  may  be  cited :  — 
"  I  was  not  in  public  life  at  the  time  of  Confederation  and  conse- 
quently was  not  aware  until  this  memorable  evening  that  to  my 
friend  [his  opponent  Mr.  Morris],  and  a  particular  friend  of  his,  were 
we  indebted  for  the  great  work.  It  is  well  to  know  these  things,  so 
that  credit  can  be  given  to  whom  credit  is  due.  I  admit  that  I  might 
have  been  skeptical,  but  now,  hearing  it  direct  from  my  honourable 
friend's  lips,  I  must  accept  it."  (Speech,  August  21,  1878.) 

80 


No  "Fair-weather  Friend" 

life  he  had  never  been  a  "fair-weather  friend,"  and 
would  express  his  belief  in  respect  to  the  Government 
which  had  just  fallen,  that  they  were  quite  able  to 
stand  by  their  record,  as  one  showing  that  they  had 
sought  to  advance  the  welfare  of  the  country  at  large. 

On  the  morning  of  the  poll  the  following  letter 
appeared  in  the  Free  Press  and  attracted  marked 
attention :  — 

The  victory  which  the  Conservatives  have  gained  in 
the  late  election  ought  surely  to  satisfy  the  most  exact- 
ing amongst  them  and  allow  them  to  step  down  from 
the  platform  of  party  feelings  and  give  some  considera- 
tion to  the  real  position  of  the  country  in  the  present 
contest.  Let  us  look  at  matters  as  they  really  stand. 
In  the  first  place,  the  great  question  is,  with  us,  railway 
communication  with  the  East,  without  which  we  are 
bound  to  be  at  a  standstill,  no  matter  how  much  Sir 
John  may  seem  to  favour  us.  It  is  quite  plain  to  any 
one  that  we  will  have  to  depend  on  the  American  out- 
let for  the  next  three  years  at  least,  as,  no  matter  how 
quickly  Sir  John  may  push  on  the  road  to  Lake  Su- 
perior, he  cannot  complete  it  within  that  time.  Sir 
John  A.  Macdonald  is  too  astute  a  politician  to  refuse 
to  work  hand  in  hand  with  Donald  A.  Smith  in  rail- 
way matters,  especially  as  the  latter  gentleman  wields 
a  very  great  influence  in  that  respect  across  the  line, 
where  Sir  John  cannot,  if  he  would,  interfere  with 
him. 

Suppose  that  Sir  John  should  see  fit  to  cancel  the 
lease  of  the  Pembina  Branch  to  the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific, 
how  much  better  off  are  we?  The  railway  company 
has  sufficient  influence  to  arrange  matters  with  the 
Northern  Pacific  by  which  the  two  lines  can  divide  the 

81 


Lord  Strathcona 

profits  of  a  higher  tariff  of  rates  to  the  boundary  line 
which  the  people  of  this  country  will  be  compelled  to 
pay  for  the  next  three  or  four  years,  and  this,  in  addi- 
tion to  an  increase  in  the  customs  duties,  will  consti- 
tute a  very  serious  burden  on  the  people  of  Manitoba. 
Even  when  the  road  to  Lake  Superior  is  finished  we 
will  have  but  a  summer  route  for  another  long  period 
during  which  we  will  be  at  the  mercy  of  American 
roads  in  winter.  It  is  well  known  that  no  direct  road 
can  be  built  between  Lake  Superior  and  Winnipeg  that 
will  not  take  years  and  a  large  amount  of  money  to 
construct.  Sir  John,  therefore,  in  the  interest  of  this 
Province,  and  in  the  interest  of  any  schemes  he  may 
wish  to  advance  for  the  opening-up  of  this  vast  coun- 
try is  not  going  to  quarrel  with  Donald  A.  Smith  in  any 
railway  matters  merely  to  satisfy  a  personal  grudge. 
If  he  did,  could  we  blame  Mr.  Smith  if  he  resented  it? 
And  then  between  Sir  John  A.  Macdonald  and  Donald 
A.  we  in  Manitoba  would  find  ourselves  in  a  nice  pickle 
of  fish.  It  is  all  nonsense  to  suppose  that  the  North- 
ern Pacific  will  launch  capital  to  build  a  road,  when 
they  are  so  much  in  need  of  money  to  push  on  their 
main  line,  so  long  as  they  can  make  a  satisfactory 
arrangement  with  the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific  for  the  trade 
of  this  city.  This  is  the  business  way  to  look  at  it. 

Now,  suppose  we  reject  Donald  A.  Smith  as  a 
friend ;  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  he  will  take  any  par- 
ticular pains  to  advance  our  interests?  He  has  become 
a  responsible  party  for  millions,  and  it  is  very  likely, 
indeed,  that  he  will,  when  under  ties  of  friendship  for 
us,  make  what  he  can  out  of  the  investment  without 
much  regard  for  us  in  the  matter.  How  is  Sir  John  to 
prevent  this,  I  would  like  to  know?  He  may  cancel 
the  lease  of  the  Pembina  Branch,  but  is  he,  or  will  he 

82 


Charges  of  Corruption 

be,  in  a  position  to  manipulate  the  line  outside  the 
Dominion?  Donald  A.,  I  rather  think,  has  been  before 
him  in  this.  It  is  not  only  probable  but  certain  that 
the  people  of  the  Dominion  would  never  sanction  the 
expenditure  of  money  to  build  up  American  railways. 
Sir  John  A.  would  never  attempt  it;  he  has  had  too 
bitter  an  experience  in  the  past  to  forget  the  lesson. 

The  election  resulted  in  Mr.  Smith's  favour;  but 
the  Opposition  charged  that  a  technical  violation 
of  the  law  had  been  committed  and  demanded  an 
annulment.  In  the  course  of  lengthy  enquiry  it  was 
shown  that  refreshments  had  unwittingly  been 
served  to  certain  visitors  at  "Silver  Heights"1 
and  other  malpractices  indulged  in,  which,  though 
innocent  of  themselves,  might  conceivably  influ- 
ence an  individual's  vote.  But  that  any  bribery  or 
corruption,  open  or  secret,  could  be  alleged  against 
the  successful  candidate  was  shown  to  be  unjust 
and  unreasonable.  The  case  came  before  one  Judge 
Betournay,  who,  after  carefully  hearing  the  evi- 
dence, dismissed  the  charges. 

Unhappily  this  same  judge,  who  was  universally 
respected,  though  far  from  affluent,  had  some  years 
before  sought  to  obtain  a  mortgage  upon  his  prop- 
erty. The  property  was  worth  some  eight  or  ten 

1  This  residence,  "  Silver  Heights,"  was  occupied  by  many  notable 
visitors  including  several  Governors-General.  The  late  Duke  of 
Argyll,  when  Lord  Lome,  stayed  at  "Silver  Heights,"  which  was  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  spots  in  the  Province.  The  old  house  at  "  Silver 
Heights,"  with  its  spacious  galleries,  quaint  corners,  and  handsomely 
furnished  rooms,  was  thrown  open,  on  many  occasions,  for  the  enter- 
tainment of  distinguished  men  and  women,  and  its  hospitalities  be- 
came a  household  word  in  Manitoba.  When  the  house  was  destroyed 
by  fire  a  noteworthy  landmark  in  the  Province  disappeared. 

83 


Lord  Strathcona 

thousand  dollars.  He  had  applied  to  Mr.  Smith's 
agent  in  Winnipeg,  who  had  advanced  him  four 
thousand  dollars  on  a  mortgage.  As  Mr.  Smith 
afterwards  publicly  stated :  — 

His  agent  had  acted  in  this  case,  as  in  every  other 
with  which  he  had  been  connected  in  Manitoba,  sim- 
ply as  his  agent  to  invest  money,  and  in  most  cases  he 
did  not  know  the  parties  dealt  with  or  sums  handled. 
The  particular  transactions  spoken  of  in  this  instance 
took  place  in  August,  1874,  when  his  agent,  Mr. 
Blanchard,  a  barrister  of  Winnipeg,  was  put  in  charge 
of  his  [Mr.  Smith's]  personal  affairs  in  Manitoba,  and 
who  had  invested  for  him  to  a  considerable  extent,  on 
his  belief  that  the  security  given  was  ample.  Since 
that  time  he  had  no  knowledge  whatever  of  the  trans- 
action. 

Yet  when,  as  a  newspaper  sensation,  the  circum- 
stance of  the  mortgage  was  revealed  such  a  clamour 
arose  that  in  May,  1879,  Mr.  Smith  felt  it  was  his 
duty  to  make  a  personal  explanation  to  the  House 
of  Commons.  After  a  simple  narration  of  the  facts 
he  concluded  by  saying :  — 

He  disliked  very  much  to  come  before  the  House  on 
any  personal  matter,  and  for  his  own  sake  would  not 
have  spoken.  He  had  shown  he  had  cared  very  little 
for  what  might  have  been  said  against  him  in  the  pub- 
lic press ;  but,  when  they  knew  that  the  reputation  of 
a  judge  depended  so  much  on  the  estimation  in  which 
he  was  held  by  the  people,  he  believed  that  it  was  his 
duty  to  come  forward  and  vindicate  the  judge  reflected 
upon.1 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  May,  1879. 

84 


New  Election  ordered 

Nevertheless,  the  matter  was  unscrupulously 
pressed  by  Mr.  Smith's  opponents,  and  on  the  con- 
tested election  being  argued  before  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  decision  was  reversed  and  a  new  elec- 
tion ordered. 

At  first  he  decided  not  to  offer  himself  for  reelec- 
tion. 

To  W.  F.  Luxton 

July  3d,  1880. 

I  thank  you  much  for  your  telegrams;  but  notwith- 
standing the  desire  you  mention,  on  the  part  of  your 
friends,  of  which  I  have  also  had  warm  assurances 
from  other  quarters,  that  I  should  again  offer  myself 
as  a  candidate  for  the  representation  of  Selkirk,  with, 
I  am  informed,  the  certainty  of  reelection,  while  greatly 
appreciating  this  proof  of  your  continued  confidence, 
I  am  unable  to  comply  with  your  wish. 

My  engagements  for  the  summer  and  autumn  are 
such  that  I  could  not  count  on  being  able  to  be  present 
during  the  election  contest;  and,  apart  from  this,  for 
three  or  four  years  back  the  attendance  at  the  Sessions 
of  the  Legislature,  in  fulfilment  of  my  duties  to  my 
constituents,  has  trenched  so  heavily  on  the  time  and 
attention  required  to  be  given  to  other  affairs,  that 
those  friends  with  whom  I  am  more  immediately  asso- 
ciated have  repeatedly  and  very  strongly  urged  me  to 
withdraw  from  Parliament;  a  recommendation,  unhap- 
pily, recently  enforced  by  illness  in  my  family,  which 
makes  it  necessary  for  me  to  be  absent  a  good  deal 
from  Canada. 

In,  for  the  present,  closing  a  connection  extending 
over  ten  years  as  the  representative  in  the  House  of 
Commons  for  the  County  of  Selkirk,  including  Winni- 

85 


Lord  Strathcona 

peg,  which  from  a  small  village  has,  during  that  period, 
grown  to  be  an  important  city  with  a  population  of 
upwards  of  ten  thousand,  let  me  say  to  you  that  I  am 
very  sensible  of  all  the  kindness  and  consideration  ex- 
perienced at  the  hands  of  those  friends  who  supported 
me,  whether  on  political  grounds  or  from  sentiments  of 
personal  friendship  to  myself;  that  I  shall  always  look 
back  with  much  satisfaction  to  the  very  pleasant  char- 
acter of  our  relations  toward  each  other,  and  that  they 
and  the  Province  of  Manitoba,  with  whose  interests 
I  have  been  so  intimately  connected  ever  since  it  be- 
came a  portion  of  the  Dominion,  have  my  best  wishes 
for  their  happiness  and  prosperity. 

Afterwards,  yielding  to  the  earnest  representa- 
tions of  his  many  friends  of  both  political  parties, 
he  consented  to  become  a  candidate  for  reelection. 
"Liberals  and  Liberal-Conservatives  alike  will  re- 
joice at  this  happy  solution  of  the  political  problem. 
The  cordial  and  spontaneous  promises  of  support 
which  have  reached  Mr.  Smith  from  all  quarters  of 
the  riding,  and  from  all  sections  of  the  community, 
must  have  been  as  gratifying  to  himself  personally 
as  they  are  significant  of  the  ultimate  result  of  the 
contest."  l 

At  the  first  joint  meeting  of  the  rival  candidates 
Captain  Scott  said  he  found  an  honourable  oppon- 
ent in  Mr.  Smith.  After  referring  to  the  lateness  of 
Mr.  Smith's  acceptance  of  the  candidature,  he  went 
on  to  say  that  Mr.  Donald  A.  Smith  was  one  who 
"  was  held  —  and  justly  so  —  in  the  highest  respect 
by  the  people  of  Kildonan.  He  had  not  said  and 

1  Free  Press,  July  12,  1880. 
86 


Defeated  for  Selkirk 

would  not  say  one  word  against  him,  further  than 
what  affected  his  political  career.  Mr.  Smith,  who 
had  represented  Selkirk  for  the  past  seven  or  eight 
years,  had  represented  the  county  well;  but  unfor- 
tunately he  had  so  many  irons  in  the  fire  that  it  was 
impossible  to  look  after  his  own  interests  and  those 
of  the  Province  and  do  both  justice." 

At  the  close  of  the  meeting  Mr.  Smith  indulged 
in  a  little  pleasantry  at  the  expense  of  the  Captain 
and  his  "honourable  and  learned  young  advocate," 
Mr.  Prudhomme.  "His  playful  sarcasms,"  ob- 
served the  reporter  present,  "  kept  those  two  gentle- 
men squirming  about  in  their  seats  as  restlessly  as 
though  they  had  been  sitting  on  carpet  tacks,  while 
the  audience,  appreciating  the  situation  to  the  full, 
were  kept  in  a  high  state  of  enjoyment.  Mr.  Smith 
also  spoke  briefly  in  French,  after  which  the  meet- 
ing broke  up  with  the  usual  cheers."  x 

But  so  great  was  the  popularity  of  Sir  John  Mac- 
donald,  and  so  zealous  his  friends  to  humiliate  one 
who  had  had  the  misfortune  to  incur  his  displeasure, 
that  the  bye-election  in  September,  1880,  could 
hardly  fail  to  result  in  Mr.  Smith's  disfavour  — 
Captain  Scott  had  a  majority  of  158  votes. 

In  the  Parliamentary  Session  of  1880,  a  great  stir 
was  attempted  in  respect  of  Mr.  Smith's  connec- 
tion with  "an  American  railway  which  was  keeping 
British  immigrants  out  of  the  North-West  by  ad- 
vertising the  superior  attractions  of  the  lands  be- 
longing to  that  railway." 

"I  am  really  disturbed  about  this,"  he  wrote, 
1  The  Manitoba  Free  Press,  September  2,  1880. 
87 


Lord  Strathcona 

"especially  after  incurring  the  serious  displeasure 
of  one  or  two  of  my  fellow-directors,  that  I  was  not 
sufficiently  eager  to  sell  our  Minnesota  lands." 
To  the  House  of  Commons  he  said :  — 

It  is  true  that  I  have  an  interest  in  the  St.  Paul, 
Minneapolis  &  Manitoba  Railway,  perhaps  three  mil- 
lion acres  of  the  lands  in  Minnesota.  But  I  hope  that 
does  not  make  me  less  a  Canadian  than  I  would  be 
otherwise.  I  have  been  in  this  country  now  for  upwards 
of  forty  years,  and  can  therefore  claim  to  be  as  much  a 
Canadian  as  most  of  the  honourable  gentlemen  in  this 
House.  I  regret  that  the  honourable  member  for  Mon- 
treal West  is  not  in  his  place  in  the  House,  because 
I  can  recollect  when  he  and  the  Honourable  Peter 
Mitchell  —  who  wrote  those  very  pleasing  and  inter- 
esting letters,  which  have  engaged  the  attention  of 
honourable  gentlemen,  and  in  which  he  speaks  in  high 
terms  of  the  lands  in  Minnesota  —  heard  other  testi- 
mony. 

I  can  recollect  that  five  members  of  this  House  and 
myself  were  on  the  train  between  Winnipeg  and  St. 
Paul  together,  on  our  return  from  Manitoba.  We  met 
the  emigration  agent  of  the  Dominion  Government, 
and  that  official,  whom  I  then  saw  for  the  first  time, 
on  being  asked,  "Are  any  efforts  made  by  the  officials 
of  the  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis  &  Manitoba  Railway 
to  keep  back  emigrants  on  their  way  to  Manitoba?" 
replied,  "Certainly  not;  on  the  contrary,  every  possi- 
ble assistance  and  facilities  are  afforded  these  emi- 
grants for  going  through  to  their  destination."  He  did 
say  that  some  other  American  railway  companies  acted 
differently,  but  that  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  road 
referred  to.  That  such  is  the  conduct  followed  by  the 

88 


North- West  Immigrants 

people  of  the  St.  Paul  &  Manitoba  Railway  has  been 
fully  substantiated  by  others,  including  the  agents  of 
Canadian  railway  companies,  who  have  gone  up  in 
charge  of  parties  of  emigrants  for  Manitoba. 

Other  testimony,  both  in  and  out  of  Parliament, 
corroborated  this.  It  was  fortunate  for  this  coun- 
try that  the  St.  Paul  Railway  Company  and  their 
lands  in  Minnesota  were  controlled  by  those  who 
were  so  friendly  to  Canada,  and  anxious  to  give 
every  reasonable  facility  for  sending  emigrants  into 
the  North- West  of  the  Dominion. 

Our  instructions  to  our  officials  are  that  no  attempt 
should  be  made  to  keep  back  these  people  on  their  way 
to  Manitoba,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  aid  and  assist 
them  as  far  as  possible,  and  I  believe  that  these  instruc- 
tions are  honestly  carried  out.  The  settlers,  both  on 
the  Government  and  railway  lands  along  the  St.  Paul 
&  Manitoba  Road,  are  principally  farmers  from  Wis- 
consin, Illinois,  Michigan,  and  other  Eastern  States, 
who,  having  sold  their  farms  there  at  good  prices,  take 
up  wheat  lands  in  Minnesota,  and  each,  in  possession 
of  capital  ranging  from  one  thousand  dollars  to  per- 
haps fifty  thousand  dollars,  contributes  immediately  to 
building  up  the  country.  These  are  Americans  who 
naturally  prefer  their  own  institutions  to  ours,  and  so 
remain  under  their  own  Government;  and  honourable 
gentlemen  must  be  aware  that  the  great  majority  of 
Canadians  proceeding  beyond  St.  Paul,  who  do  not  go 
to  and  remain  in  Manitoba,  become  settlers  in  the 
Territory  of  Dakota,  and  not  on  the  lands  of  the  St. 
Paul  &  Manitoba  Company. 

No  one  can  say  that  I  have  ever  put  forward  the 
claims  of  the  United  States  for  emigration  in  prefer- 

89 


Lord  Strathcona 

ence  to  Manitoba  and  the  North-West  Territory. 
Quite  otherwise;  and  when  recently  in  England,  on 
the  question  of  resources  and  development  of  Canada 
being  brought  forward  at  a  meeting  of  the  Royal 
Colonial  Institute,  I  took  occasion  there  to  speak  in 
the  most  marked  terms  of  the  advantage  Canada  had 
over  the  United  States  in  this  respect,  and  in  this 
superiority  I  firmly  and  faithfully  believe. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  CANADIAN  PACIFIC   RAILWAY  SYNDICATE 
1880-1886 

IT  is  unquestionable  that,  despite  those  amiable 
traits  which  won  him  countless  staunch  personal 
friends,  even  amongst  his  political  opponents,  Sir 
John  Macdonald  rather  inclined  to  inveteracy 
in  his  resentments.  He  frankly  admitted  as  much 
himself.  "When  a  man  has  done  me  an  evil  turn 
once  I  don't  like  to  give  him  the  opportunity  to 
do  so  twice."  He  used  to  say  that  he  deplored  this 
disposition  to  cherish  a  grudge  —  humorously  at- 
tributing it  to  a  Highland  strain  in  his  blood, 
adding,  however,  "I  fight  against  it  and  I  believe 
I  shall  die  at  peace  with  my  enemies."  For  a 
period  of  years  Sir  John  chose  to  believe  that  Mr. 
Smith  had  been  guilty  of  treachery  in  failing  to 
support  him  on  a  critical  occasion  in  1873.  He  re- 
fused to  credit  the  purity  of  Mr.  Smith's  motives. 
To  a  friend  who  undertook  to  demonstrate  that 
the  member  for  Selkirk  was  still  a  loyal  admirer  of 
himself,  although  obliged  on  a  question  of  public 
policy  to  vote  against  him,  he  declared,  "I  don't 
believe  it.  If  he  was  loyal  he  would  not  have 
deserted  me."1 

1  While  I  quote  these  expressions  on  unimpeachable  authority, 
Sir  Joseph  Pope  reminds  me  that  his  old  chief  "was  wont  to  charac- 
terize such  a  type  of  mind  as  fatal  to  success  in  a  public  man."  Yet 
he  admits  that  the  "sore  sometimes  remained  open."  In  the  case 
of  Donald  A.  Smith  "it  apparently  healed  up." 

91 


Lord  Strathcona 

* 

But  this  was  not  the  real  Sir  John  Macdonald. 
A  long  career  in  politics  —  a  familiarity  with  poli- 
ticians and  place-hunters,  many  dealings  with  cor- 
rupt interests  —  had  made  him  cynical ;  but  it  did 
not  destroy  his  belief  in  private  honour  or  public 
morality.  He  knew,  and  as  years  rolled  on  he  con- 
fessed, the  mistake  he  had  made  with  regard  to 
Mr.  Smith.  But  for  a  long  time  his  pride  kept  him 
silent. 

On  resuming  power  in  1878,  Sir  John's  first  care, 
after  his  cherished  National  Policy,  which  reversed 
the  Free- trade  tendencies  of  his  predecessor,  was  to 
carry  out  the  great  transcontinental  railway  pro- 
ject to  which  the  country  had  so  long  been  pledged. 
Some  tentative  railway-building  in  the  West,  un- 
dertaken by  his  Minister  of  Railways,  Sir  Charles 
Tupper,  only  confirmed  him  in  his  belief  that  the 
day  for  haphazard  and  piecemeal  construction  was 
over. 

We  must  meet  the  difficulty  [he  had  said]  imposed 
on  Canada  by  the  reckless  arrangements  of  the  late 
Government  with  reference  to  the  Pacific  Railway, 
under  which  they  pledged  the  land  and  resources  of 
this  country  to  the  commencement  of  that  gigantic 
work  in  July,  1873,  and  to  its  completion  by  July, 
1881. 

That  contract  has  already  been  broken ;  over  a  mil- 
lion dollars  has  now  been  spent  in  surveys,  and  no  par- 
ticular line  has  yet  been  located.  The  bargain  is,  as 
we  always  said,  incapable  of  literal  fulfilment.  We 
must  make  arrangements  with  British  Columbia  for 
such  a  relaxation  of  the  terms  as  will  give  time  for  the 

92 


Macdonald's  Policy 

completion  of  the  surveys,  and  subsequent  prosecu- 
tion of  the  work,  with  such  speed  as  the  resources  of 
the  country  will  permit,  and  without  largely  increasing 
the  burden  of  taxation  upon  the  people. 

In  the  mean  time,  some  means  of  communication 
across  the  continent  must  be  secured.  It  would  be  the 
Government's  policy  to  unite  enormous  stretches  of 
magnificent  water  communications  with  lines  of  rail- 
way to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  thus  avoiding,  for  the 
present,  the  construction  of  thirteen  hundred  miles  of 
railway,  costing  from  sixty  to  eighty  millions  of  dol- 
lars, and  rendering  the  resources  of  the  country  avail- 
able for  the  prosecution  of  these  links,  and  they  should 
endeavour  to  make  these  great  works  auxiliary  to  the 
promotion  of  immigration  on  an  extensive  scale,  and 
to  the  settlement  and  development  of  those  rich  and 
fertile  territories  on  which  our  hopes  for  the  future  of 
Canada  are  so  largely  fixed. 

In  1879,  Parliament  placed  at  his  disposal  one 
million  acres  of  land,  but  he  was  not  able  with 
that  grant  to  arrange  for  any  complete  scheme  for 
the  rapid  construction  of  the  railway.  In  1880,  the 
Ministers  again  met  the  House,  and  met  it  with  the 
same  policy  of  the  year  before,  namely,  to  take  up 
in  good  faith  the  obligations  that  devolved  upon 
them  through  the  acts  of  their  predecessors.  Al- 
though they  had  not  formulated  the  plan  of  carry- 
ing on  the  work  by  the  Government,  they  took  up 
the  work  as  they  found  it. 

But  the  method  was  exasperating  and,  con- 
sidered as  a  means  to  an  end,  highly  unsatisfac- 
tory. It  was  now  clear  that  private  capitalists 
must  be  found  who  would  take  the  whole  burden 

93 


Lord  Strathcona 

off  the  shoulders  of  the  Government.  Were  there 
any  such?  It  soon  appeared  that  there  were.  To 
some  sanguine  spirits,  at  any  rate,  the  great 
scheme  was  infinitely  more  attractive  in  1880  than 
it  had  been  two  years  before. 

In  June,  1880,  Sir  John  told  his  followers  assem- 
bled at  a  political  rally:  — 

I  can  say  this,  and  the  Minister  of  Finance,  who  is 
on  the  platform,  can  corroborate  my  statement,  if 
necessary,  that  there  are  capitalists  at  this  moment, 
who,  knowing  that  there  is  a  certain  fortune  to  be 
made  out  of  the  construction  of  the  railway,  are  asking 
that  the  work  be  handed  over  to  them.  They  have 
said,  "We  will  relieve  you  of  all  anxiety  and  the  people 
of  all  apprehension  of  being  taxed.  We  will  take  the 
railway  in  hand,  build  it,  and  make  fortunes  out  of  it." 
The  Government,  at  this  moment,  has  the  offers  so 
made  under  consideration,  so  that  there  is  no  danger 
regarding  the  road. 

And  at  the  close  of  that  year,  Sir  Charles  Tup- 
per  frankly  stated  to  the  House  of  Commons :  — 

One  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  great  change  in 
the  public  sentiment  in  relation  to  the  value  of  land 
in  the  North-West,  and  of  railway  enterprise  in  the 
North- West,  was  the  marked  and  wonderful  success 
that  was  published  to  the  world  as  having  resulted 
from  the  syndicate  who  had  purchased  the  St.  Paul, 
Minneapolis,  &  Manitoba  Railway,  and  become  the 
proprietors  of  that  line.  The  statements  they  were 
enabled  to  publish  showed  not  only  the  rapidity  with 
which  the  railway  construction  in  private  hands  could 
be  carried  on,  but  it  showed  the  value  of  the  prairie 

94 


Sir  John's  Animosity 

lands  in  the  North- West,  and  the  extent  they  could  be 
made  valuable  for  the  construction  of  such  lines.  It 
attracted  the  attention  of  capitalists  in  relation  to 
enterprises  of  that  kind  to  a  degree  that  had  a  very 
marked  influence,  undoubtedly,  upon  the  public  mind 
in  relation  to  this  question.  I  may  further  frankly 
state  to  the  House,  because  we  have  nothing  to  con- 
ceal, that  when  we  decided  that  it  was  desirable  for  us 
to  ask  intending  contractors  and  capitalists  on  what 
terms  they  would  complete  and  take  over  the  road  of 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  we  placed  ourselves 
in  communication  with  all  the  parties  who  we  had 
any  reason  to  suppose  would  have  any  intention  to 
contract,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  their  lowest  possi- 
ble offer. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  at  the  exciting  close  of 
the  memorable  Session  of  1878,  Sir  John  had 
twitted  Mr.  Donald  Smith  with  being  closely  con- 
cerned with  the  St.  Paul  &  Pacific  Railway,  and 
that  Mr.  Smith  had  refused  to  give  him  any  infor- 
mation on  this  point.  Albeit  the  facts  soon  became 
common  property,  and  Sir  John  was  in  consequence 
averse  to  any  negotiations  in  which  the  member 
for  Selkirk  would  be  a  party.  Moreover,  the  un- 
toward events  of  1873,  which  had  hurled  him  from 
power,  induced  him  to  tread  cautiously  the  devious 
ways  of  railway  finance. 

In  the  summer  of  1880,  he  paid  a  visit  to  Eng- 
land. 

Before  we  went  [he  explained]  there  was  a  provisional 
offer  made  to  the  Government,  which  was  distinctly 
understood  to  be  provisional.  We  subsequently  re- 

95 


Lord  Strathcona 

ceived  a  second  offer,  and  the  Government  came  to 
the  conclusion,  especially  as  we  had  an  indirect  intim- 
ation, verbally,  that  an  offer  would  probably  be  made 
from  New  York  and  San  Francisco,  that  we  could  not 
possibly  settle  the  matter  here.  We  decided  to  inform 
all  the  parties  that  we  would  attend  to  the  reception  of 
any  applications,  tenders,  or  offers,  in  London.  There- 
upon, the  first  party  who  made  this  provisional  offer 
withdrew  it  and  would  not  hold  to  it.  The  second  party 
did  not  do  so  —  this  was  an  offer  from  England,  and 
the  party  subsequently  dropped  their  application.  The 
communications  that  were  made  in  England  were 
principally,  if  not  altogether,  verbal.  Gentlemen  came 
over  again  and  again  from  Paris  and  sat  with  us  in  the 
discussion  of  these  matters.  The  first  offer  was  with- 
drawn. The  second  one  it  would  be  unfair  to  disclose; 
as  the  honourable  gentlemen  opposite  will  see  there 
were  personslin  it,  bankers  and  others  of  considerable 
commercial  standing,  who  were  connected  with  that 
offer.  They  found  they  were  not  strong  enough  to 
press  it.  Their  offer  was  made,  of  course,  with  the  de- 
sire of  coming  in  if  they  could,  and  being  engaged  in 
the  construction  of  the  road,  and  it  would  be  hardly 
fair  to  them  to  use  their  names  and  to  state  that  these 
persons  failed  in  being  strong  enough  to  undertake  the 
work.  It  would  affect  their  position.  The  present  offer 
is  the  most  favourable  offer,  both  as  to  money  and  land, 
that  the  Government  or  delegates  received.  Arrange- 
ments were  made ;  we  sat  de  die  in  diem  as  a  little  com- 
mittee, meeting  different  gentlemen  again  and  again. 
They  were  all  desirous  of  making  an  arrangement, 
money  being  plenty  and  enterprise  ripe  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  especially  in  France  and  England. 
They  were  all  anxious  to  connect  themselves  with  such 

96 


The  Syndicate  submits  Terms 

an  enterprise.  Some  were  appalled  by  the  largeness  of 
the  scheme ;  some  were  frightened  by  the  eventual  re- 
sponsibility; and  one  after  another  withdrew  from 
attempts  to  be  concerned  with  the  railway.  As  to  the 
present  parties,  we  met  them  every  day. 

Sir  John  and  his  colleagues  were  honestly  desir- 
ous of  having,  if  possible,  Canadians  and  Cana- 
dian capital  undertake  and  conclude  this  great 
national  project,  which  had  for  years  been  hang- 
ing fire. 

Would  Canada  [he  asked]  be  likely  to  have  this  con- 
tract carried  out  with  the  success  we  all  desire,  expect, 
and  hope  for,  if  we  had  made  the  contract  with  the 
strongest  body  of  capitalists  that  could  be  found  in  the 
city  of  London?  What  would  you  have  had?  We 
would  have  had,  the  first  thing,  an  English  engineer, 
with  extravagant  ideas,  totally  ignorant  of  the  work 
and  the  construction  of  railways  through  such  a  coun- 
try, and  we  would  have  had,  at  no  distant  day  —  no 
matter  what  their  resources  might  be  —  a  perfect  failure 
in  their  hands,  and,  worse  than  that,  you  would  have 
had  discredit  brought  upon  the  country  in  consequence 
of  the  parties  which  had  purchased  the  bonds  failing 
to  obtain  that  interest  which  they  justly  expected  from 
their  investment. 

On  Sir  John's  return  from  England,  there  were 
various  conferences  with  the  financiers  thus  mys- 
teriously alluded  to,  and  as  the  result  of  these 
negotiations  a  syndicate  now  openly  submitted 
the  terms  upon  which  it  was  prepared  to  build  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway.  In  that  syndicate  the 
name  of  Donald  A.  Smith  did  not  appear.  Actu- 

97' 


Lord  Strathcona 

ally,  its  head  was  Mr.  George  Stephen,  of  Mon- 
treal ;  it  was  he  who  made  the  formal  overtures  to 
the  Government. 

Mr.  Smith  wrote  to  Mr.  Stephen:  — 

I  must  not  and  do  not  complain  of  Sir  John  Mac- 
donald's  prejudice  against  me,  which  I  trust  time  will 
tend  to  abate;  but  I  shall  not  the  less  on  that  account 
exert  myself  to  the  utmost  consistent  with  the  condi- 
tions which  that  prejudice  imposes.1 

On  the  1st  of  December,  1880,  it  was  announced 
that  a  provisional  contract  had  been  made  with  a 
syndicate  composed  of  George  Stephen  and  Dun- 
can Mclntyre,  of  Montreal;  John  S.  Kennedy,  of 
New  York,  banker;  Morton,  Rose  &  Co.,  of  Lon- 
don, England,  merchants;  Kohn,  Reinach  &  Co., 
Paris,  bankers;  and  Richard  B.  Angus  and  J.  J. 
Hill,  of  St.  Paul,  who  were  subsequently  incor- 
porated as  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Com- 
pany.2 

Briefly,  the  syndicate  agreed  to  finish  the  rail- 
way through  from  Montreal  to  the  Pacific  and 
operate  it  for  ten  years  in  consideration  of  a  cash 
grant  of  $25,000,000,  a  land  grant  of  25,000,000 
acres,  and  the  portion  of  the  railway  already  com- 

1  January  9,  1881. 

2  "It  maybe  told  that  the  owners  of  the  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis  & 
Manitoba  Railway  are  members  of  this  syndicate;  and,  Sir,  I  am 
glad  to  know  that  that  is  the  fact;  and  for  this  reason,  I  say  that, 
standing  outside  of  this  association,  they  were  in  a  position  of  antag- 
onism to  Canada,  because  they  were  the  owners  of  a  line  of  railway 
to  the  south  of  our  great  North-West,  and  of  large  tracts  of  fertile 
land  contiguous  to  that  railway."  (Sir  John  Macdonald,  Parliamen- 
tary Debates,  1880.) 

98 


A  Howl  of  Execration 

pleted  upon  which  the  Government  had  expended 
in  round  figures,  $28,000,000. 

The  terms  had  only  to  be  made  known  to  cause 
a  howl  of  execration  to  go  up  from  the  Opposition. 
It  was  roundly  declared  that  the  country  had 
been  sold.  The  bargain  was  denounced  as  un- 
conscionable robbery  on  the  one  hand  and  perfidi- 
ous acquiescence  on  the  other.  Hon.  Mr.  Blake 
pointed  out  that  the  eminent  engineer,  Mr.  Sand- 
ford  Fleming,  had  estimated  that  the  cost  of  con- 
structing the  remaining  two  thousand  miles  would 
be  $48,500,000. 

To  induce  the  syndicate  to  undertake  this  portion 
of  the  road  we  agree  to  give  them  $25,000,000  in  cash 
and  25,000,000  acres  of  land  valued  at  $50,000,000. 
By  this  cash  and  land  grant  we  pay  the  syndicate  the 
entire  cost  of  building  their  portion  of  the  road  and 
$26,000,000  additional.  The  syndicate  have,  there- 
fore, a  profit  on  the  building  of  their  portion  of  the 
road  of  $26,500,000.  We  will  then  assume  that  the 
entire  road  is  finished.  What  does  the  Government  do, 
then?  It  hands  to  the  syndicate  the  portion  built  by 
the  latter,  and  on  which  the  syndicate  has  already 
made  a  profit  of  $26,500,000  by  building.  It  hands 
over  also  the  entire  road  built  by  the  Government. 
The  syndicate  get  $26,500,000  and  they  get  the  entire 
Pacific  Railway,  estimated  to  cost  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  $80,000,000,  a  total  of  $106,500,000;  and  they 
get  this  on  condition  that  they  will  be  good  enough  to 
accept  it  and  deposit  $1,000,000  as  security  for  run- 
ning the  road.  But  the  Government  did  not  stop  there. 
The  road  and  its  equipment  and  the  capital  stock  of  the 
company  were  forever  exempted  from  taxation. 

99 


Lord  Strathcona 
Said  the  Toronto  Globe:  — 

Under  the  bargain  as  it  stands,  it  would  appear  that 
the  company  might  shut  up  the  unproductive  parts  of 
the  road  while  still  retaining  the  sections  which  still 
paid  a  profit.  But  supposing  the  Government  could 
force  them  to  relinquish  the  whole  line  in  case  of 
$3,000,000  default,  the  syndicate  would  care  little  for 
the  surrender  of  $5,000,000  of  large  bonds,  if  they  had 
made  $26,500,000  and  were  able  to  escape  the  task  of 
operating  the  road  north  of  Lake  Superior  through  the 
"sea  of  mountains"  of  British  Columbia. 

It  is  a  fact  that  under  this  bargain  the  syndicate  may 
go  on  to  build  the  road,  raising  all  the  money  needed  for 
the  work  of  construction  and  over  $20,000,000  besides, 
and  after  their  work  is  done,  at  the  end  of  the  ten 
years,  coolly  decide  whether  it  will  be  most  to  their 
advantage  to  run  the  road  or  to  throw  it  on  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  people  of  Canada.  The  net  result  of  the 
whole  scheme  is  that  the  Government  is  to  pay  $75,- 
000,000  for  the  construction  of  part  of  a  road  which 
will  cost  $48,500,000;  and  if  at  the  end  of  ten  years 
money  is  to  be  made  by  running  the  road,  the  Govern- 
ment will  be  free  from  further  exactions,  and  the  com- 
pany will  be  placed  in  full  possession  of  a  line  which 
will  have  cost  $80,000,000  to  build  and  for  which  they 
will  have  received  at  least  $110,000,000,  but  if  the 
road  will  not  pay,  an  unknown  but  certainly  large  sum 
will  be  called  for  to  provide  the  materials  for  a  traffic 
large  enough  to  be  remunerative,  and  a  further  amount 
to  pay  working  expenses. 

Another  objection  was  that  the  $26,000,000 
might  be  spent  to  no  purpose.  There  was  no  secur- 
ity, except  the  reputation  of  the  members  of  the 

100 


The  Bargain  ratified 

company,  that  the  railway  might  not  be  "thrown 
back  on  the  hands  of  the  country  again."  Accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Blake:  — 

Should  the  company  issue  land  grant  bonds,  the  Gov- 
ernment will  hold  only  $5,000,000  of  those  bonds  as 
security  for  the  maintenance  of  the  road.  Then  the 
company  may  retire,  and  make  money  by  doing  so,  if 
circumstances  warrant  a  belief  that  the  losses  in  run- 
ning expenses  will  amount  to  more  than  $5,000,000. 
On  the  completion  of  the  road  the  company  will  have 
received  the  larger  part  of  the  sum  which  the  people 
are  asked  to  pay  as  insurance  against  loss  in  running 
expenses.  As  the  gentlemen  now  composing  it  may  die 
or  sell  out  very  soon,  the  security  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  line  is  practically  nothing.  Therefore,  the  pay- 
ment of  $26,000,000  in  excess  of  the  cost  of  the  rail- 
way will  not  secure  the  country  against  the  danger  of 
political  corruption.  Even  though  the  bargain  should 
be  duly  carried  out  by  the  Company,  dishonest  politi- 
cians will  have  opportunities.  Should  a  revision  of  the 
contract  be  demanded  in  the  public  interest,  and  such 
a  revision  certainly  will  be  a  necessity,  the  company 
may  spend  money,  as  all  railway  companies  do,  in 
order  to  secure  political  influence. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  recount  the  arguments 
employed  on  press  and  platform  against  a  ratifi- 
cation of  the  Government's  bargain  with  Mr. 
Stephen  and  his  associates.  The  tumult  was  all 
in  vain :  the  bargain  was  formally  ratified  early  in 
1 88 1.  The  Canadian  Pacific  Company  was  incorpo- 
rated and  one  of  the  most  stupendous  undertak- 
ings in  history  began. 

101 


Lord  Strathcona 

Of  the  little  band  of  men  who  had  accepted  the 
task  it  can  now  be  said  with  certainty  that  they 
were  never,  as  Mr.  Smith  said,  from  the  first  to 
the  last  day  of  those  memorable  five  years,  ani- 
mated by  any  mere  spirit  of  gain. 

The  First  Minister  will  bear  me  out,  when  I  say 
that  Sir  George  Stephen  and  the  other  members  of  the 
syndicate  did  not  approach  the  Government  with 
regard  to  the  building  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
until  the  Government  had  tried,  in  Europe  and  else- 
where, to  get  others  to  take  it  up,  capable  of  carrying 
it  through,  but  had  not  succeeded  in  this. 

/  say  distinctly  that  the  gentlemen  who  undertook  the 
charter,  although  at  first  unwilling  to  assume  the  responsi- 
bility, ultimately  consented,  more  with  a  view  of  assisting 
to  open  up  the  country  than  from  any  expectation  of  gain 
to  be  derived  from  it.1 

By  the  terms  of  the  contract  the  line  was  to  be 
finished  in  1891.  The  policy  agreed  upon  by  Presi- 
dent Stephen  and  his  fellow-directors  in  building 
the  line  was  to  press  forward  construction,  so  that, 
if  possible,  the  line  could  be  completed  in  five 
instead  of  the  stipulated  ten  years.  Contracts 
were  given  out,  and  in  a  few  weeks  thousands  of 
workmen  were  straining  every  muscle  to  carry 
out  the  work.  Meanwhile  the  existing  road  had  to 
be  operated  and  a  population  induced  to  take  up 
lands  in  the  sections  through  which  it  ran.  The 
expenses  were  enormous  —  millions  disappeared  as 
into  the  maw  of  a  vast  monster,  and  more  millions 

1  The  Honourable  D.  A.  Smith,  M.P.,  Parliamentary  Debates, 
May  26,  1887. 

102 


William  Cornelius  Van  Home 

had  to  be  found.  Every  economy  was  practised, 
save  that  which  would  affect  the  soundness  and 
stability  of  the  work. 

The  Government's  Chief  Engineer  2  said,  in  his 
report  of  September,  1883:  — 

It  affords  me  much  pleasure  to  be  able  to  state  that 
the  Pacific  Railway  Company  are  doing  their  work  in 
a  manner  which  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired.  The 
road  is  being  most  substantially  built.  The  larger 
streams  are  being  spanned  by  strong  iron  bridges,  rest- 
ing upon  abutments  and  piers  of  massive  masonry, 
and  the  small  streams  on  the  eastern  section  will  be 
passed  through  solid  cut-stone  culverts.  On  the  cen- 
tral section  the  streams  are  for  the  most  part  crossed 
by  substantially  built  pile  bridges.  The  work,  so  far  as 
it  has  been  done  up  to  the  present  time,  has  been  per- 
formed most  faithfully  and  in  a  manner  fully  up  to 
the  requirements  of  the  contract.  I  am  enabled  to 
speak  with  confidence  on  this  point,  having  made  a 
personal  inspection  during  the  last  two  months  of  the 
work  from  a  point  east  of  Port  Arthur  (formerly  Prince 
Arthur's  Landing)  to  Port  Moody. 

By  this  time  the  practical  management  of  the 
company  had  fallen  into  highly  capable  hands. 
Even  before  it  had  become  certain  that  the  ar- 
rangement would  be  concluded,  the  leaders  of  the 
syndicate  had  discussed  the  question  of  the  official 

1  Mr.  Collingwood  Schreiber,  C.B.,  who  had  succeeded  Mr. 
Fleming,  was  the  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Government  Railways,  and 
was  also  designated  by  the  Government  as  Chief  Engineer  of  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  and  as  such  had  charge  of  the  completion 
of  the  two  sections  of  railway  which  were  to  be  turned  over  to  the 
company;  he  also  had  charge  of  all  engineering  questions  arising  be- 
tween the  Government  and  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company. 

103 


Lord  Strathcona 

personnel  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway.  To 
Mr.  Hill  there  was  then  known  Mr.  William  Corne- 
lius Van  Home,  the  general  superintendent  of  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railway.  This 
official,  still  in  his  "thirties,"  was  notable  even 
amongst  the  many  notable  figures  which  the  vast 
system  of  American  transportation  had  called  into 
being.  He  was  a  scion  of  ancient  Dutch  stock,  long 
settled  in  New  York,  whose  name  is  so  often  men- 
tioned in  the  pages  of  Washington  Irving.  In  the 
words  of  Mr.  Hill:  "There  was  no  one  on  the  whole 
continent  who  would  have  served  our  purpose  so 
well  as  Mr.  Van  Home.  He  had  brains,  skill,  expe- 
rience, and  energy,  and  was,  besides,  a  born  leader 
of  men." 

The  provision  of  a  three  per  cent  dividend  for 
the  holders  of  the  $65,000,000  of  shares  was  ar- 
ranged in  the  summer  of  1883.  It  amounted  to  a 
purchase  of  an  annuity  of  three  per  cent  on  these 
shares  for  ten  years,  based  on  the  deposit  of  cash 
and  securities  with  the  Government  by  the  com- 
pany, which  would,  by  actuarial  calculation,  at 
four  per  cent,  yield  in  ten  years  the  amount  re- 
quired. 

This  arrangement  had  hardly  been  completed 
and  the  deposit  made  when  the  failure  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway,  in  the  autumn  of  1883, 
brought  about  a  financial  crash  which  defeated  the 
object  of  the  arrangement  and  resulted  in  the  lock- 
ing-up  of  all  the  cash  and  valuable  resources  of 
the  company  beyond  recall.  The  situation  was  a 
desperate  one,  and  was  the  cause  of  the  visit  of 

104 


Thirty  Millions  wanted 

Mr.  Stephen  and  some  of  the  directors,  and  Mr. 
J.  J.  C.  Abbott,  to  Ottawa.  The  party  went  di- 
rectly to  "  Earnscliffe  "  to  lay  the  matter  before  Sir 
John  Macdonald,  and  to  point  out  the  absolute 
necessity  of  immediate  Government  assistance,  and 
he  was  asked  to  make  a  loan  to  the  company  of 
$30,000,000  to  be  paid  over  as  the  work  advanced, 
and  to  be  secured  by  a  first  lien  on  all  the  properties 
of  the  company.  Sir  John  replied  that  it  was  abso- 
lutely impossible  —  that  nothing  of  the  kind  could 
be  done.  He  was  obdurate  and  Mr.  Stephen  and 
his  friends  had  to  leave  empty-handed  and  in 
despair.  They  proceeded  to  John  Henry  Pope's 
quarters  in  the  "Bank  Cottage,"  and  told  him  all 
that  had  occurred.  Mr.  Pope  apparently  saw  that 
the  fate  of  the  Conservative  Party  was  involved 
in  the  matter,  and,  although  it  was  past  midnight, 
he  proceeded  at  once  to  "Earnscliffe,"  asking 
Stephen  and  his  party  to  await  his  return.  When 
he  came  back  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
he  merely  said,  "Well,  he  will  do  it." 

The  first  application  to  the  Government  for 
money  to  carry  on  the  work  was  favourably  con- 
sidered. 

From  George  Stephen  to  the  Honourable 
Sir  Charles  Tupper 

MONTREAL,  24th  October,  1883. 

The  capital  stock  of  this  company  has  been  fixed  at 
$100,000,000,  of  which  $55,000,000  have  already  been 
issued. 

105 


Lord  Strathcona 

It  now  requires  a  further  amount  of  money  to 
enable  it  to  prosecute  the  work  of  construction  and 
equipment  at  the  same  rate  of  progress  as  heretofore, 
and  in  accordance  with  its  policy  and  in  justice  to 
its  present  shareholders,  such  amount  should  be  ob- 
tained by  means  of  the  remaining  stock  of  the  com- 
pany. 

But  in  the  present  state  of  the  market  and  of  public 
feeling  as  to  stocks  generally,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  dispose  in  the  ordinary  way  of  any  further  amount 
of  stock  at  a  reasonable  rate,  if  at  all,  and  the  company 
is  desirous  of  adopting  the  following  plan  as  a  mode  of 
procuring  the  amount  required :  — 

The  company  to  deposit  with  the  Government 
money  and  securities  constituting  a  fund  sufficient  to 
pay  semi-annual  dividends  for  ten  years  on  the  entire 
stock  of  the  company,  at  the  rate  of  three  per  cent  per 
annum.  The  amount  required  for  this  purpose  has 
been  ascertained  to  be  $24,527,145. 

This  project  would  require  the  assistance  of  the 
Government,  but  merely  as  a  depository  of  the  fund  to 
be  created,  and  it  would  impose  no  responsibility  or 
liability  upon  the  Government  beyond  the  periodical 
repayment  of  instalments  of  the  amount  deposited, 
with  interest  added  at  the  rate  mentioned. 

I  have,  therefore,  to  request  the  favour  of  the  coop- 
eration of  the  Government  in  carrying  out  the  sug- 
gested plan,  and  as  I  purpose  leaving  for  England 
shortly,  I  should  be  greatly  obliged  if  this  matter  could 
be  disposed  of  at  an  early  date. 

Mr.  Collingwood  Schreiber,  the  Government's 
Chief  Engineer,  wrote  to  the  Ministry:  'This 
proposition  commends  itself  favourably  to  me  and 

106 


Arrangements  with  Government 

as  the  Government  would,  in  my  opinion,  incur 
no  risk  in  entertaining  it,  I  beg  to  recommend  its 
adoption." 

In  a  further  letter  of  the  6th  November,  Mr. 
Stephen  now  proposed  a  modification  of  the  fore- 
going arrangement,  namely,  that  the  payment  of 
three  per  cent  for  ten  years  be  on  a  sum  of  $65,000- 
ooo  of  stock  only,  inasmuch  as  the  company  only 
proposed  to  dispose  of  the  stock,  from  time  to 
time,  in  such  amounts  as  may  be  necessary  to  meet 
the  demands  of  construction. 

The  company  offered  to  deposit  the  remaining 
$35.000,000  of  stock  with  the  Government,  interest 
at  three  per  cent  to  be  paid  on  such  part  thereof 
as,  from  time  to  time,  might  be  paid  to  the  Gov- 
ernment. The  company  asked  that  in  carrying  this 
arrangement  into  effect,  the  deposit  representing 
three  per  cent  for  ten  years  on  $100,000,000  be 
reduced  to  such  a  sum  as  would  leave  sufficient 
security  in  the  hands  of  the  Government  to  pay 
the  three  per  cent  for  ten  years  on  $65,000,000. 

Two  or  three  years  before,  Sir  Sandford  Fleming 
had  stated  it  as  his  opinion  that,  "A  continuous 
road  from  Lake  Nipissing  to  the  Pacific  Ocean 
through  Canadian  territory  will  pay  running  ex- 
penses when  three  million  people  shall  have  settled 
in  the  North-West." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  and  happily  for  itself,  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  thanks  to  the  astonish- 
ing skill  of  its  management,  paid  its  running  ex- 
penses almost  from  the  beginning. 

Still,  millions  of  dollars  were  needed  for  construc- 

107 


Lord  Strathcona 

tion.1  The  hour  momentarily  threatened  to  strike 
when  the  millions  were  no  longer  forthcoming.  For 
a  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  daily  demands  could  not 
be  met,  and  the  road  was  doomed  to  failure  and  the 
company  to  bankruptcy.  Looking  back  on  this 
phase  now,  it  seems  almost  incredible  that  it  should 
have  been  so.  But  the  opinion  of  contemporaries 
upon  the  railway  was  not  that  universally  enter- 
tained to-day.  There  were  many  who  were  ready 
to  condole  with  Messrs.  Stephen  and  Smith  for 
their  hardihood  —  there  were  many  who  freely  pre- 
dicted disaster,  because  they  had  embarked  their 
own  and  others'  millions  in  an  enterprise  which 
would  not  be  able  to  return  a  profit  until  they  had 
been  many  years  in  their  graves. 

The  demands  must  be  met,  money  must  be  pro- 
cured, and  consequently  the  company  were  driven 
to  apply  to  Parliament  for  a  loan.  It  was  the  signal 
for  another  explosion  from  the  Opposition.  What 
had  become  of  the  money  already  advanced  by  the 
Government?  Where  was  the  produce  of  the  sales 
of  land  and  land  bonds?  There  must  be  something 
wrong  somewhere.  If  it  were  not  corruption,  it 
must  be  prodigality. 

The  Deputy  Minister  of  Inland  Revenue  was 
asked  by  the  Government  to  go  to  Montreal  in 

1  In  April,  1885,  the  company  had  outstanding  about  $7,000,000 
of  notes  maturing  in  two  months,  and  no  money  was  available  to  pay 
them.  There  was  grave  danger  that  all  work  would  have  to  cease. 
The  Government  now  made  a  short-term  loan  of  $5,000,000.  In  1886 
the  company  made  provision  for  the  extinction  of  these  loans,  partly 
in  cash  and  partly  by  a  surrender  of  a  portion  of  its  land  grant,  which 
was  taken  over  by  the  Government  at  $i  .50  per  acre.  (S.  J.  McLean.) 

108 


Canadian  Pacific  Accounts 

connection  with  Mr.  Schreiber,  the  Chief  Engineer, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  such  investigation  of 
the  books  and  statements  of  the  company  as  would 
assure  beyond  all  question  the  accuracy  of  its 
statements  of  expenditure. 

From  Sir  Charles  Tupper  to  Messrs.  Miall 
and  Schreiber 

OTTAWA,  28th  January,  1884. 

I  have  to  request  that  you  will,  with  all  convenient 
speed,  proceed  to  Montreal,  with  a  view  to  investigat- 
ing the  books  and  accounts  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  Company  so  far  as  such  examination  may  be 
necessary  to  enable  you  to  verify  certain  statements 
of  revenue  and  expenditure  which  have  been  laid  be- 
fore my  colleagues  and  myself  by  that  corporation. 

I  am  aware  that  an  exhaustive  and  detailed  audit 
would  entail  the  labour  of  weeks,  if  not  of  months. 
This  is  not  expected.  But  you  are  required  to  make 
such  examination  as  a  prudent  business  man  would 
desire  to  make  before  lending  capital  to,  or  entering 
into  terms  of  copartnership  with,  a  respectable  firm. 
A  copy  of  the  company's  statements  is  transmitted 
herewith. 

The  two  gentlemen  went,  they  examined  the 
books  and  thus  reported :  — 

As  the  result  of  our  investigations,  however,  we 
have  no  hesitation  whatever  in  submitting  our  opinion 
that  the  statements  furnished  by  the  President,  and 
placed  in  our  hands  for  verification,  represent  truth- 
fully the  actual  condition  of  the  company's  affairs  as 
portrayed  by  the  books  of  the  company. 

109 


Lord  Strathcona 

It  soon  appeared  that  ulterior  causes  were  at 
work  to  damage  the  credit  of  the  company.  Com- 
binations were  formed  against  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  by  interested  roads;  the  Grand  Trunk 
Railway  Company  and  certain  American  rivals 
strove  to  obstruct  its  progress,  and  the  result  of 
their  combinations  and  machinations  had  been  to 
prevent  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company 
from  disposing  of  its  stock  at  a  fair  market  value,  — 
at  such  value  as  they  had  fair  reason  to  expect  to 
realize  in  order  to  apply  the  proceeds  to  the  com- 
pletion of  their  great  work.  But  this  was  not  all. 

A  great  depreciation  had  taken  place  in  the  value  of 
American  railway  securities,  not  merely  in  the  New 
York  market,  but  also  in  the  other  great  money  mar- 
kets of  the  world  —  in  Amsterdam,  Paris,  and  London ; 
and  this  depreciation  occurred  at  the  very  time  when 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  needed  the  proceeds 
which  they  expected  to  obtain  from  the  sale  of  their 
stock.  To  meet  this  difficulty,  the  company  ap- 
proached the  Canadian  Government  and  deposited 
with  it  a  sum  of  money  and  securities  sufficient  to  pro- 
vide for  the  payment  of  three  per  cent  of  the  five  per 
cent  promised  by  the  railway  company  on  a  capital 
stock  of  $65,000,000.  It  was  supposed  that  this  pro- 
vision for  a  limited  amount  of  the  interest  promised  by 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  would  have  the  effect, 
not  merely  of  steadying  the  stock  in  the  American, 
English,  and  French  markets,  but  also  of  giving  in- 
creased value  to  the  stock,  and  that  thereby  money 
would  be  realized  from  the  sale  applicable  to  the  prose- 
cution of  the  work.  Through  a  combination  of  circum- 
stances this  result  has  not  been  achieved,  and  the  com- 

110 


The  Country  "given  away' 

pany  has  not  been  able  to  realize,  from  the  sale  of  their 
stock,  the  amount  they  might  fairly  have  contem- 
plated.1 

Mr.  Donald  Smith  and  his  colleagues  bore  the 
volley  of  criticism  and  abuse  directed  toward  them, 
patiently,  and  sometimes  with  humour. 

They  say  [Mr.  Smith  wrote  to  Mr.  Hill]  we  are  au- 
thorized to  build  the  flimsiest  kind  of  road  possible 
and  that  there  are  practically  no  guarantees  for  the 
working  of  the  road  after  it  is  built.  Thus  one  source 
of  expense  will  be  removed. 

Moreover,  you  will  have  heard  that,  although  we 
have  fixed  upon  Montreal  as  the  chief  place  of  the 
syndicate  for  the  time  being,  we  really  intend  to  move 
our  headquarters  shortly  to  St.  Paul ! 

And  again :  — 

The  Globe  retracts  the  statement  that  the  Govern- 
ment have  sold  the  country  to  the  Pacific  Railway 
Company.  It  now  says  they  have  merely  given  the 
country  away. 

A  long  and  heated  debate  followed  —  one  of  the 
longest  and  most  acrimonious  in  the  history  of  the 
Canadian  Parliament.  The  railway  was  attacked, 
its  good  faith  was  called  in  question.  It  was 
charged  with  gross  extravagance  and  unnecessary 
waste  of  funds. 

What  [asked  Mr.  Charlton,  M.P.]  did  Canada  con- 
tract to  pay  for  under  this  bargain?  Did  it  contract  to 
pay  for  a  road  from  Nipissing  to  Montreal?  It  did  not; 
and  it  was  unnecessary  for  the  syndicate  to  secure  such 
1  Parliamentary  Debates,  February  19,  1884. 
Ill 


Lord  Strathcona 

a  road  until  they  required  an  outlet.  Any  road  run- 
ning in  that  direction  would  have  been  glad  to  have 
made  terms  with  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  to 
carry  their  trade.  It  would  have  been  an  easy  matter, 
in  the  case  of  the  Canada  Central,  to  have  made  a  con- 
solidation, and  to  have  taken  that  road  in  as  part  of 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  system,  after  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railway  was  constructed.  It  was  prema- 
ture to  purchase  the  road  in  advance  of  the  time  when 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  required  an  outlet.  Did 
we  contract  for  a  road  to  Portland  in  the  State  of 
Maine?  We  did  not,  and  it  was  unnecessary  for  the 
syndicate  to  have  acquired  such  a  road.  Did  we  con- 
tract with  the  syndicate  for  a  road  to  Brockville?  We 
did  not.  Did  we  contract  with  them  for  a  road  from 
Ottawa  to  Detroit?  We  did  not.  Did  we  contract  with 
the  syndicate  for  a  road  from  Toronto  to  Owen  Sound? 
We  did  not.  Did  we  contract  with  the  syndicate  that 
we  should  back  them  up  in  making  war  upon  the 
Grand  Trunk  and  become  a  party  to  that  conflict? 
We  did  not.  Did  we  contract  with  the  syndicate  to 
establish  a  railway  monopoly  east  of  Lake  Superior 
as  perfect  and  galling  as  the  monopoly  existing  under 
that  contract  west  of  Lake  Superior?  No;  that  was 
not  a  part  of  the  contract.  Did  we  contract  with  the 
syndicate  to  build  a  place  for  its  president,  and  endow 
its  members  with  millions  of  dollars  for  investment  in 
stocks  in  England  and  other  enterprises?  We  did  not. 
Did  we  contract  to  stand  sponsors  for  the  ambitious 
and  far-reaching  designs  of  railway  kings,  to  make  the 
whole  Dominion  subsidiary  and  tributary  to  them? 
No,  we  did  not.  We  are  not  parties  to  any  such  con- 
tract ;  but  it  is  to  carry  out  a  contract  of  that  charac- 
ter, to  aid  them  to  realize  their  designs,  that  they  come 

112 


Opposition  Anger 

and  ask  Parliament  for  an  additional  subvention  to  the 
amount  of  $28,500,000. l 

No;  in  the  opinion  of  the  Opposition  there  was 
no  excuse  for  this  company  —  no  reason  why  they 
should  be  compelled  to  come  to  the  House  seeking 
help  to  bridge  over  their  difficulties.  Their  re- 
sources were  ample  and  abundant.  They  had  mil- 
lions upon  millions  in  excess  of  the  sum  required  to 
enable  them  to  discharge  the  contract  which  they 
had  made  with  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  They 
had  made  their  bed,  and  though  it  were  Damien's 
bed  of  steel,  they  must  lie  on  it.2 

Naturally  the  Opposition  did  not  scruple  to  hint 
that  the  Government  were  receiving  bribes  from 
the  company.  Why  this  secrecy?  Why  this  inde- 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  February  19,  1884. 

*  The  hostility  of  the  Grand  Trunk  exercised  an  adverse  effect 
upon  the  credit  of  the  Canadian  Pacific.  In  the  numerous  pamph- 
lets of  the  time,  which,  if  not  inspired  by  the  Grand  Trunk,  were  at 
least  issued  by  partisans  of  that  enterprise,  the  idea  was  spread  that 
the  Canadian  Pacific  was  a  mere  speculative  enterprise  doomed  to 
failure.  The  value  of  its  lands  was  depreciated.  It  was  stated  that 
for  "six  months  in  the  year  the  road  will  be  an  ice-bound,  snow-cov- 
ered route."  The  feeling  existing  in  the  minds  of  the  unfortunate 
investors  of  the  Grand  Trunk  that  they  had  been  unfairly  treated 
was  reinforced  by  the  utterances  of  such  a  weighty  financial  journal 
as  the  London  Economist,  which  cited  the  chartering  of  the  rival  en- 
terprise, which  apparently  threatened  the  existence  of  the  Grand 
Trunk,  as  an  example  of  unfairness.  The  Canadian  Pacific  stocks 
fell,  between  December,  1883,  and  June,  1884,  from  fifty-seven  to 
forty-two.  The  trade  depression  in  1884,  which  was  the  outcome  of 
the  speculative  development  of  1880-82  and  the  deficient  harvest  of 
1883,  further  aggravated  the  evil  credit  not  only  of  the  Canadian 
Pacific,  but  of  the  Grand  Trunk  as  well.  In  a  period  of  six  months 
the  stocks  of  both  lines  were  depreciated  by  $38,000,000.  (S.  J. 
McLean.) 


Lord  Strathcona 

cent  haste?   There  was  something  that  Mr.  Blake 
and  the  Opposition  members  did  not  understand. 

How  is  it  that  this  syndicate  exercises  such  un- 
bounded power  over  this  Government?  How  is  it  that 
the  syndicate  issues  its  dictates  and  the  Government 
seems  bound  to  obey?  Does  the  syndicate  possess 
some  secret  which,  if  breathed  to  the  public,  would 
blast  the  reputation  and  blacken  the  characters  of  its 
servants  who  are  pushing  this  scheme  through  at  its 
dictation.1 

But  of  course  the  real  question  was,  Was  the 
country  receiving,  and  likely  to  continue  to  re- 
ceive, value  for  the  money  it  had  pledged,  and 
was  the  security  adequate?  The  reply  of  one 
member,  Mr.  Dawson  (of  Dawson  Route  fame), 
was  conclusive:  — 

The  security  is  ample  and  sufficient.  That  it  is 
ample  there  can  be  no  doubt.  They  offer  to  make  over 
to  the  Government  every  mile  of  the  railway,  the  roll- 
ing-stock, and  everything  they  possess,  and  surely 
such  ample  security  as  that  ought  to  be  sufficient. 
But,  sir,  there  is  a  further  security,  which  of  itself  is 
ample,  and  that  is  that  not  a  dollar  of  this  $22,500,000 
is  to  be  handed  over  to  them  except  as  the  work  pro- 
ceeds. It  will  only  be  paid  for  work  done.  The  money 
is  not  given  to  them  to  spend  on  any  other  project,  but 
as  the  engineer  reports  a  certain  amount  of  work  done, 
this  money  is  to  be  handed  over.  Surely  that  of  itself 
is  a  security  which  ought  to  satisfy  the  House. 

Ultimately,  the  money  was  voted  and  the  com- 
pany were  enabled  to  pay  off  the  contractors  and 
*  Parliamentary  Debates,  February  19,  1884. 
114 


A  Straightforward  Transaction 

were  granted  a  brief  breathing  spell.    But  it  was 
very  brief. 

From  D.  A.  Smith,  M.P. 

April  9th,  1884. 

You  will  see  by  the  enclosed  that  Mr.  Van  Home  is 
"pushing  forward  construction  unflinchingly,"  from 
which  you  will  gather  that  our  resources  are  limitless 
and  that  we  have  not  a  care  in  the  world.  I  fear  such 
is  too  rosy  a  view  of  the  situation.  Our  shoulders  have 
to  bear  a  vast  burden,  although  our  strength  will,  I 
hope,  be  equal  to  it. 

As  the  great  work  proceeded,  they  were  subject 
to  anxieties  and  fleeting  misgivings  of  which  few, 
if  any,  in  the  outside  world,  were  aware.  Said  Mr. 
Smith  some  months  after  success  had  crowned  their 
efforts:  — 

% 

With  regard  to  the  construction  of  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  it  has  been  charged  against  the  com- 
pany, with  which  I  am  proud  to  be  connected,  as  it 
will  redound  to  the  honour  of  the  country,  that  we 
went  before  Parliament  and  that  we  got  money  again 
and  again.  It  is  true  we  applied  for  a  loan  of  money, 
but  we  did  not  go  as  paupers.  We  did  not  go  to  ask  for 
a  penny  that  we  had  no  intention  of  paying  back.  We 
went  as  you  or  I  would  go  to  our  banker  or  to  a  neigh- 
bour, and  say,  "give  us  such  and  such  an  amount, 
whether  it  be  $10  or  $10,000,  and  if  you  do  we  will  pay 
it  back  to  you  honestly,  with  interest ;  it  will  be  a  great 
benefit  to  me  because  it  will  further  the  projects  and 
the  work  I  have  on  hand."  We  went  to  the  Govern- 
ment and  asked  them  simply  for  the  means  to  go  on 
with  the  great  national  work.  We  promised  we  would 


Lord  Strathcona 

pay  the  money  back  to  the  last  penny,  and  is  there 
any  man  who  can  say  to-day  that  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  Company  has  not  paid  the  Government  back 
to  the  last  cent?  We  are  clear  with  regard  to  that. 
The  loan  was  undoubtedly  a  great  benefit  to  us  and  a 
great  benefit  to  the  country,  while  at  the  same  time  the 
country  has  not  lost  one  single  sixpence  by  the  trans- 
action. It  has  been  said  that  myself  and  colleagues 
made  money  out  of  the  railway.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
up  to  the  present  we  have  lost  money,  and  we  can  never 
reap  any  benefits  out  of  it  other  than  what  the  share- 
holders receive.1 

Mr.  Smith's  precision  of  language  was  second 
nature.  Once,  in  the  days  of  doubt  and  darkness, 
when  the  fate  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  was 
trembling  in  the  balance,  there  was  a  directors' 
meeting  in  Montreal  and  the  prospects  of  failure 
for  lack  of  funds  were  long  and  painfully  canvassed. 
At  last  the  President  brought  down  his  palm  forci- 
bly upon  the  table  and  exclaimed,  "Gentlemen,  it 
looks  as  if  we  had  to  burst!" 

Mr.  Smith  glanced  deprecatingly  at  the  speaker, 
and  scratching  the  green  baize  cloth  with  his  fore- 
finger, said  mildly,  "It  may  be  that  we  must  — 
succumb,  but  that  must  not  be,"  he  added,  raising 
his  voice  and  gazing  round  the  company,  "as  long 
as  we  individually  have  a  dollar." 

Once  again  in  June,  1885,  circumstances  com- 
pelled them  to  go  before  Parliament  for  a  loan. 
This  time  their  enemies  were  alert  and  numerous. 
It  remained  to  be  seen  what  was  the  strength  of 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  February  19,  1884. 
116 


Undertaking  imperilled 

their  friends.  The  Government  had  stood  by  them 
so  far,  but  how  much  farther  did  they  dare?  The 
mood  of  the  House  was  distinctly  hostile,  but  cash 
—  immediate  cash  —  was  vitally  necessary  and  the 
banks  would  grant  no  more. 

Said  the  Honourable  J.  H.  Pope  in  introducing 
the  question  of  a  fresh  loan :  — 

The  only  thing  the  company  are  going  to  ask  from 
this  House  in  the  shape  of  money  is  that  they  may  be 
assisted  temporarily  to  the  extent  of  $5,000,000,  with 
ample  security  for  repayment,  and  to  be  allowed  to 
cancel  stock  of  $35,000,000  and  issue  bonds,  in  order 
to  pay  the  loan  and  complete  the  road.  There  is  no 
money  to  be  given  for  the  completion  of  their  contract 
-  not  one  farthing  —  they  do  not  ask  for  it.  The 
arrangement  is  to  be  made,  if  at  all,  not  in  the  interest 
alone  of  the  company,  but  of  the  country,  that  the  road 
shall  be,  in  all  respects,  superior  to  the  contract,  and  as 
good  as  any  of  the  other  transcontinental  railways  be- 
tween the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  and  in  every 
respect  in  a  position  to  compete  with  the  other  roads. 
The  company  desire  to  get  possession  of  their  property 
in  order  that  they  may  use  it  for  the  equipment  and 
completion  of  the  road.  And,  to  put  it  in  first-class 
condition,  they  propose  to  pay  off  the  indebted  unsold 
stock,  issuing  instead  the  same  amount  of  preferred 
bonds,  the  proceeds  of  which,  when  sold,  to  be  appro- 
priated to  pay  off  $20,000,000  of  the  loan  of  last  year. 
The  other  $15,000,000  of  bonds  will  be  deposited,  or 
the  proceeds  when  sold,  first,  $8,000,000  as  security  for 
a  loan  of  $5,000,000  to  pay  off  their  floating  debt, 
which  loan  is  to  be  repaid  in  July,  1886;  the  balance  is 
for  the  purpose  of  equipping  and  completing  the  road 

117 


Lord  Strathcona 

in  first-class  style  —  far  above  the  standard  con- 
tracted for,  and  as  security,  we  take  the  whole  21,000- 
ooo  acres.  I  think  no  honourable  gentleman  will  say 
that  the  security  we  take  is  not  ample,  and  does  not 
secure  us  fully.1 

Just  then  Parliament  and  the  Ministry  were 
absorbed  elsewhere. 

The  mutterings  of  the  Riel  Rebellion  were 
already  heard,  and  the  Government  was  full  of 
anxiety.  The  loan  to  the  company  could  not  be 
obtained,  although  an  advance  of  one  million  dol- 
lars was  paid,  a  mere  drop  in  the  bucket  of  the 
company's  indebtedness.  The  Government's  guar- 
antee of  its  bonds  was  not  forthcoming.  The  op- 
position to  the  measure  was  at  first  rather  fierce, 
but  the  very  important  assistance  the  company  was 
able  to  render  the  Government  in  the  way  of  mov- 
ing troops  to  the  North-West  for  the  suppression  of 
the  rebellion,  while  Parliament  was  yet  in  session, 
pulled  the  teeth  of  the  Opposition  and  consolidated 
the  Government's  support.  Nevertheless  the  pas- 

1  MR.  DAWSON.  "The  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  and  the  Deputy  Minister  of  Inland  Revenue  were  sent 
down  to  investigate  the  books  of  the  company,  and  what  do  they 
report?  They  report  that  these  books  were  admirably  kept,  and 
that  the  statements  before  the  House  truthfully  show  the  condition 
of  matters  as  exhibited  in  these  books.  Sir,  I  prefer  to  take  state- 
ments of  that  kind,  verified  by  men  in  high  positions,  whose  honour 
has  never  been  impugned ;  I  prefer  them  to  the  vague  and  wild  state- 
ments which  we  have  heard  on  every  side  for  the  last  few  days  in  this 
House.  In  a  work  so  great  as  this  there  must  always  be  something  to 
cavil  at.  In  a  work  which  embraces  a  line  of  railway  extending  from 
ocean  to  ocean,  and,  with  all  its  branches,  has  a  length  of  over 
thirty-three  hundred  miles,  it  is  surprising  that  there  is  so  little  to 
cavil  at,  instead  of  so  much."  (Parliamentary  Debates.) 


Confronted  by  Ruin 

sage  of  the  bill  was  long  delayed  because  of  the 
Franchise  Bill,  which  preceded  it  and  which  the 
Government  insisted  on  giving  priority.  At  the 
middle  of  July,  1885,  it  had  not  yet  become  law.  In 
the  mean  time,  the  company's  obligations  had  been 
piling  up,  and  its  position  had  become  extremely 
desperate.  It  was  accordingly  necessary  to  face  the 
crisis  at  once,  and  on  July  13,  1885,  Mr.  Stephen, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir  John)  Abbott, 
the  solicitor  of  the  company,  travelled  to  Ottawa 
to  learn  the  decision  of  Sir  John  Macdonald's 
Government.  They  went  direct  to  the  Council 
Chamber,  where  they  were  made  aware,  by  the 
hats  hanging  in  the  outer  hall,  that  a  ministerial 
council  was  in  session,  and  in  the  ante-room  they 
awaited  the  momentous  result.  There  were  rows 
of  books  locked  in  the  official  bookcases  and  a  few 
newspapers  and  bluebooks  which  they  had  not  the 
heart  to  glance  at.  They  had  even  no  zest  for  con- 
versation :  but  sat  there,  in  the  stifling  heat  of  a  July 
afternoon,  patiently  waiting  for  the  door  to  open 
and  the  Ministers  to  file  out.  But  the  members  of 
the  Council  departed  unobserved  by  another  door, 
and  hours  later,  speechless  and  dispirited  to  the 
last  degree,  Mr.  Stephen  repaired  to  the  Russell 
House.  In  the  corridor  he  sank  into  a  chair.  A 
friend  accosted  him  after  a  time  as  he  sat  there, 
with  his  gaze  fastened  on  the  floor,  and  enquired 
how  he  felt. 

"I  feel,"  replied  Stephen,  "like  a  ruined  man!" 
That  was  the  lowest  ebb  in  a  tide  which  after- 
wards flowed  so  high. 

119 


Lord  Strathcona 

Largely  through  the  friendly  intervention  of  an 
influential  Toronto  supporter,  Sir  Frank  Smith, 
the  Government  finally  agreed  to  allow  the  issue  of 
$35»ooo,ooo  of  stock,  of  which  it  was  to  guarantee 
$20,000,000,  leaving  $15,000,000  to  be  issued  by 
Mr.  Stephen,  Mr.  Donald  A.  Smith,  and  their  fel- 
low-directors. Such  a  proposition  was  hardly  tempt- 
ing. The  question  was,  Would  the  great  European 
bankers  consider  it  favourably?  It  was  agreed  that 
Mr.  Stephen  should  journey  to  London  to  inter- 
view the  Barings,  of  which  famous  banking  firm 
Lord  Revelstoke  was  the  head.  His  surprise  was 
great,  when,  before  he  had  completed  his  lengthy 
explanation  of  the  situation,  Lord  Revelstoke  in- 
terrupted him,  saying:  "We  have  been  looking 
into  this  question  carefully,  and  if  agreeable  to  you, 
we  are  prepared  to  take  over  the  whole  issue  of 
£3,000,000  of  stock  at  9if." 

Mr.  Stephen  could  hardly  credit  such  good  news. 
Nevertheless  he  asked  with  admirable  self-posses- 
sion, "How  soon  will  the  money  be  available?" 

Whereupon  Lord  Revelstoke  explained  that  it 
would  require  some  months  to  arrange  the  details  of 
the  issue.  Meanwhile,  they  offered  to  issue  their  own 
certificates  for  £750,000  at  once,  and  three  further 
sums  of  £750,000  at  intervals  during  the  month. 

The  question  of  solvency  of  the  company  was 
forever  settled.  Mr.  Stephen  instantly  cabled  out 
to  Canada  the  good  news.1 

1  In  Montreal,  when  Mr.  Stephen's  cable  arrived,  two  of  his  fel- 
low-directors tore  the  message  open.  "  In  the  tumult  of  our  feelings 
we  began  capering  about  like  school-boys,  even  to  bestowing  sundry 
kicks  on  the  furniture  of  the  board-room." 

120 


Lord  Revelstoke's  Action 

There  is  a  station  of  the  great  railway  in  the 
Canadian  Rocky  Mountains  to-day,  which  bears 
the  name  of  Revelstoke.  It  commemorates  an  im- 
portant event  in  the  financial  history  of  the  road, 
for  the  head  of  the  great  English  banking  house  of 
Baring  Brothers  was  not  the  least  of  the  factors  in 
the  advancement  and  consolidation  of  the  fortunes 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company. 

From  that  time  forward  no  shadow  of  financial 
darkness  obscured  the  bright  prospects  of  the  road. 
Not  only  were  the  Barings  as  good  as  their  word, 
but  they  continued  to  negotiate  all  the  issues  of 
the  company  until  1890.  In  that  year,  when  they 
were  approached  for  a  fresh  loan,  they  declined. 
The  directors  were  astonished,  but  Lord  Revel- 
stoke  said,  "The  security  is  excellent,  but  we  be- 
lieve the  time  has  come  when  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  Company  ought  to  sell  its  own  securities 
over  its  own  counter.  As  for  ourselves,  we  will 
make  a  liberal  subscription." 

When  an  explanation  at  length  was  forthcoming, 
the  Canadian  directors  had  reason  to  feel  a  pro- 
found gratitude.  For  even  then  the  historic  firm 
of  Baring  Brothers  anticipated  those  financial  diffi- 
culties in  the  Argentine  Republic  which  were  to 
end  for  them  in  utter  disaster;  they  were  reluctant 
to  involve  the  great  Canadian  railway  in  their  fall. 
As  Lord  Strathcona  said  long  afterwards:  "It 
was  most  enigmatical  to  us,  —  that  attitude  of  the 
Barings.  Until  our  first  issue  went  off  it  caused  us 
many  misgivings." 

At  last  on  the  7th  November,  1885,  upwards  of 

121 


Lord  Strathcona 

five  years  before  the  expiry  of  the  time  allowed  by 
the  terms  of  the  contract,  the  railway  was  finished. 
It  has  been  picturesquely  written:  — 

If  an  inquisitive  eagle,  soaring  above  the  lonely 
crags  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  November  7,  1885, 
had  looked  down  upon  a  certain  spot  near  the  Colum- 
bia River  and  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
from  Vancouver,  it  would  have  seen  a  very  unusual 
sight.  A  railway  train  had  come  to  a  standstill  at  this 
spot  to  allow  a  number  of  gentlemen  to  alight,  and 
these,  surrounded  by  a  great  concourse  of  working- 
men,  had  gathered  together  to  see  one  among  them  per- 
form an  action  apparently  simple  and  uninteresting. 
At  the  side  of  one  of  the  shining  rails  was  an  iron  plate 
with  a  hole  in  it,  and  through  this  hole  a  spike  had  to 
be  driven  which  would  fasten  it  firmly  to  the  wooden 
sleeper. 

Surely  it  was  not  necessary,  you  will  say,  for  all 
these  gentlemen  to  come  from  a  distance  to  do  what 
any  one  of  the  stalwart  workmen  could  have  done  with 
the  greatest  ease!  Ah,  but  it  was  a  very  special  spike, 
the  last  of  millions  that  had  been  driven  in  the  course 
of  constructing  a  railway  which  was  to  join  the  town 
of  Montreal  with  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

No  bright  flags  waved  in  that  lonely  valley; 
there  were  no  trumpets  to  sound  a  fanfare  of  tri- 
umph. Yet  the  consummation  of  a  gigantic  un- 
dertaking was  being  celebrated.  As  the  vigorous 
blows  from  the  hammer  rang  out,  it  did  not  seem 
an  exaggeration  to  say  that  they  echoed  through 
the  British  Empire.  As  some  one  picturesquely 
wrote  at  the  time: — 

122 


Last  Spike  driven 


The  shippers  of  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  heard 
them  and  knew  that  they  meant  an  increase  in  the  car- 
riage of  merchandise  through  their  town  to  and  from 
Japan,  because  the  railway  would  lessen  the  distance 
between  London  and  Yokohama  by  many  hundreds  of 
miles.  The  farmers  of  Manitoba,  a  thousand  miles 
away,  heard  them,  too,  and  knew  that  they  meant  a 
larger  market  for  their  corn  and  fruit;  and  farther 
away  still,  in  the  old  Canadian  cities,  the  merchants 
heard  them,  and  knew  that  commerce  in  the  great 
western  lands,  hitherto  unreached  by  railways,  would 
grow  more  prosperous. 

In  Mr.  Smith's  own  words :  — 

The  last  rail  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  was  about  to  be 
laid,  the  last  spike  was  about  to  be  driven.  It  was  a 
dismal,  dreary  day  in  the  first  week  of  November,  but 
we  soon  got  out  nto  the  open  country,  and  presently 
it  was  one  of  those  bright,  pleasant,  bracing  days  of  the 
autumn  summer.  There  were  some  gentlemen  stand- 
ing on  the  platform  and  looking  at  all  this  new  coun- 
try. One  of  them  touched  me  on  the  shoulder  and  said 
he- 

"The  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills." 

We  soon  got  from  the  mountains  to  the  prairie  sec- 
tion again,  where  there  are  really  thousands  of  cattle 
to  be  seen.  That  is  one  of  the  scenes  in  my  life  ever  to 
be  remembered. 

To  the  station  adjacent  to  the  spot  was  given  the 
name  of  Craigellachie,  the  Morayshire  stronghold 
of  Mr.  Smith's  ancestors  on  both  sides  of  the  family 
tree.1 

1  Sir  William  Van  Home  writes:  "The  origin  of  'Craigellachie' 
goes  back  to  the  inception  of  the  enterprise,  when  one  of  the  mem- 

123 


Lord  Strathcona 

On  the  return  journey  of  the  party  which  had 
assisted  at  the  foregoing  interesting  ceremony,  Mr. 
Smith  announced  his  intention  of  giving  an  enter- 
tainment in  honour  of  the  event  at ' '  Silver  Heights. ' ' 
As  his  residence  was  several  miles  distant  from 
Winnipeg,  Mr.  Van  Home  had  previously  con- 
ceived the  happy  idea  of  giving  Mr.  Smith  a  sur- 
prise by  having  a  short  branch  line  constructed 
from  thence  to  the  town.  The  work  offered  no 
great  difficulty;  there  were  a  large  number  of  light 
rails  and  sleepers,  left  over  from  the  work,  close  at 
hand.  He  gave  the  necessary  orders  and  in  a  week 
or  so  it  was  completed. 

On  the  morning  in  question  [writes  one  who  was 
present],  our  train  (containing  the  party,  including  Mr. 
Sandford  Fleming)  approached  Winnipeg.  We  were  all 
engaged  in  conversation,  and  Mr.  Smith  apparently 
did  not  notice  that  the  engine  driver  had  reversed  the 
engine.  At  last  he  looked  out  of  the  window. 

"Why,  we  are  backing  up,"  he  said ;  and  then, "  Now, 
there's  a  very  neat  place.  I  don't  remember  seeing 
that  farm  before.  And  those  cattle  —  why,  who  is  it 
that  has  Aberdeen  cattle  like  that?  I  thought  I  was 

bers  of  the  syndicate  wrote  Mr.  Stephen,  pointing  out  they  were  all 
now  fortunately  situated  and  in  going  into  the  Canadian  Pacific 
enterprise  they  might  be  only  courting  trouble  for  their  old  age,  and 
urging  that  they  ought  to  think  twice  before  committing  themselves 
irrevocably.  To  this  Stephen  answered  in  one  word,  '  Craigellachie ' 
—  which  appealed  to  the  patriotism  of  his  associates,  and  not  another 
doubt  was  expressed.  It  was  a  reference  to  the  familiar  lines,  '  Not 
until  Craigellachie  shall  move  from  his  firm  base,  etc.'  I  heard  of 
this  when  I  first  became  connected  with  the  company,  and  was  much 
impressed  by  it,  and  determined  that  if  I  were  still  with  the  company 
when  the  last  rail  should  be  laid,  the  spot  should  be  marked  by  a 
station  to  be  named  'Craigellachie.'  " 

124 


The  First  Through  Train 

the  only  one.  This  is  really  very  strange."  Suddenly 
the  house  came  into  view.  "Why,  gentlemen,  I  must 
be  going  crazy.  I  've  lived  here  many  years  and  I 
never  noticed  another  place  so  exactly  like '  Silver 
Heights.'" 

"Silver  Heights,"  called  the  conductor.  The  car 
stopped  and  some  of  us  began  to  betray  our  enjoyment 
of  the  joke.  After  another  glance  outside  he  began  to 
laugh  too.  I  never  saw  him  so  delighted. 

Before  nightfall  a  telegram  arrived  from  the 
Queen,  through  the  Governor-General,  Lord  Lans- 
downe,  graciously  congratulating  the  Canadian 
people  on  the  national  achievement,  which  Her 
Majesty  was  well  advised  in  regarding  as  "of  great 
importance  to  the  whole  British  Empire." 

On  the  28th  of  June,  1886,  the  first  through  train 
over  the  completed  Pacific  Railway  left  Dalhousie 
Square  Station,  Montreal,  on  its  long  pilgrimage 
of  2905  miles  through  the  meadows,  primeval 
wilderness,  fertile  prairies,  and  the  lofty  mountains 
of  the  broad  Dominion  to  Port  Moody  on  the  west- 
ern coast.  The  event  was  too  important  for  the 
city  of  Montreal  for  her  citizens  to  permit  it  to  go 
unnoticed.  At  eight  o'clock  on  this  summer  night 
the  ten  cars  and  engine,  which  comprised  the  first 
through  train,  started  on  its  journey  amidst  loud 
cheers  and  the  booming  of  the  guns  of  the  field 
battery  which  fired  a  parting  salute  as  the  historic 
train  departed  from  the  densely  thronged  station. 

This  great  national  work,  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  [declared  Sir  Donald  Smith],  has  consolidated 

125 


Lord  Strathcona 

the  union  of  the  Dominion ;  it  has  stimulated  trade  in 
the  East,  it  has  opened  up  the  West;  it  has  brought  the 
rich  agricultural  lands  of  the  prairies  and  the  mineral 
wealth  of  the  Pacific  Slope  within  the  reach  of  all ;  it 
has  given  Canada  outlets  both  on  the  Atlantic  and 
the  Pacific,  and  has  provided  a  new  Imperial  highway 
from  the  United  Kingdom  to  Australasia  and  China 
and  Japan. 

The  departure  of  this  first  train  marked  the  con- 
summation of  that  union  of  the  British  Dominions 
on  this  continent  which  was  inaugurated  on  the 
1st  of  July,  1867,  and  is  second  only  in  importance 
to  the  confederation  of  the  four  provinces  that  that 
day  joined  their  interests  and  fate  in  a  bond  not  to 
be  dissolved  while  Great  Britain  maintains  her  su- 
premacy over  the  northern  portion  of  the  new  world. 

Said  the  Montreal  Gazette :  — 

The  Pacific  Railway  is  truly  called  a  nation  at  work. 
The  people  of  Canada  gave  freely  of  their  wealth  to 
secure  its  construction;  they  watched  its  progress 
through  all  the  vicissitudes  that  befell  it,  under  the 
care  of  three  Governments,  and  lastly  in  the  hands  of 
the  company  whose  courage  and  energy  have  carried 
it  through  to  completion.  They  have  just  right  to 
be  proud  of  their  achievement.  For  it  is  peculiarly  a 
Canadian  work.  Canadians  conceived  it,  designed  it, 
built  it,  and  almost  unaided  provided  the  money  to 
defray  its  cost,  and  they  will  now,  it  is  hoped,  enter 
upon  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  their  courage  and 
hopefulness.  But  the  road  is  more  than  national;  the 
future  is  big  with  promise  that  it  will  soon  be  known  as 
a  great  Imperial  trade  route,  serving  to  bind  together 

126 


The  Queen's  Interest 

closer  for  mutual  benefit,  the  interests  of  the  Mother 
Country,  not  alone  with  Canada,  but  as  well  with 
those  far-off  antipodean  colonists  who  are  building  up 
in  Australia,  as  we  are  in  North  America,  young  na- 
tions imbued  with  the  spirit  of  enterprise  and  constitu- 
tional liberty  that  has  made  England  the  first  among 
the  commercial  powers  of  the  world. 

In  one  of  the  late  Sir  Adolphe  Chapleau's 
speeches,  during  a  critical  time  in  the  railway's 
history,  there  is  an  eloquent  passage  which  well 
deserves  to  be  recalled.  He  told  the  assembled 
House  of  Commons:  — 

Sir,  the  calumnies  of  those  who  want  to  vilify  the 
Government,  and  who  desire  to  destroy  the  credit  of 
the  country,  of  those  who  want  to  destroy  the  great 
work  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  will  be  of  no 
avail.  They  will  be  like  loose  winds,  blowing  sand  and 
smoke,  and  carrying  dark  things  with  them.  Their 
dark  ideas  and  their  dark  thoughts,  everything  that 
is  dark  in  their  hearts,  which  is  blown  and  breathed 
against  us  and  against  this  enterprise,  will  not  do  more 
than  those  winds  which  cannot  destroy  the  monu- 
ments of  the  old  world.  They  may  give  a  darker  shade 
to  the  granite  and  the  marble,  but  the  solidity  of  the 
pyramids  and  of  the  great  monuments  of  Europe  will 
remain,  as  the  Pacific  Railway  will  remain,  as  solid  as 
if  these  winds  had  not  passed  over  it. 

From  the  Marquess  of  Lome 

The  Queen  has  been  most  deeply  interested  in  the 
account  which  I  have  given  her  of  the  building  of  your 
great  railway,  the  difficulties  which  it  involved,  and 

127 


Lord  Strathcona 

which  have  been  so  wonderfully  surmounted.  Not  one 
Englishman  in  a  thousand  realizes  what  those  difficul- 
ties were;  but  now  that  the  great  Dominion  has  been 
penetrated  by  this  indestructible  artery  of  steel,  the 
thoughts  and  purposes  of  her  people,  as  well  as  her 
commerce,  will  flow  in  an  increasing  current,  to  and 
fro,  sending  a  healthful  glow  to  all  the  members.  The 
Princess  and  I  are  looking  forward  to  a  journey  one 
day  to  the  far  and  fair  Pacific. 

Already  the  Queen  had  signified  her  sense  of  the 
great  Imperial  service  rendered  by  the  promoters 
of  the  railway.  Upon  the  president  was  bestowed 
the  dignity  of  a  baronetcy  and  later,  on  May  26, 
1886,  Mr.  Smith  was  nominated  a  Knight  Com- 
mander of  the  Order  of  St.  Michael  and  St.  George. 

To  Miss  Mactavish 

1157  DORCHESTER  ST.,  MONTREAL, 
4th  March,  1886. 

You  will,  of  course,  have  seen  that  Mr.  Stephen  has 
been  made  a  baronet,  and  he  is  well  deserving  of  any 
honour  he  would  care  to  accept,  although,  perhaps, 
hereditary  honours  are  out  of  place  in  Canada;  but 
then  he  is  at  least  as  much  an  English  resident  as 
Canadian. 

There  has,  indeed,  been  a  great  upturning  in  political 
circles  since  I  last  saw  you  and  the  uncertainty  is  evi- 
dently as  great  as  ever.  Gladstone  and  some  of  his 
friends  appear,  however,  to  be  ready  to  make  any  con- 
cession, so  long  as  he  may  thereby  retain  place  and 
power. 


128 


First  Japanese  Cargo 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Bank  of  Montreal 
that  month,  he  said:  — 

I  should  be  very  glad,  indeed,  to  see  as  many  as  pos- 
sible of  our  fellow-countrymen  from  every  part  of  the 
Empire  going  there  and  reaping  the  benefits  which  by 
industry  and  perseverance  they  are  sure  to  gain  in  the 
North- West.  Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  opening- 
up  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  If  the  directors  of  the  company  have  deferred 
the  opening  somewhat,  it  has  been  that  they  might  be 
so  prepared  that  no  invidious  comparisons  could  pos- 
sibly be  made  to  the  detriment  of  the  railway.  I  may 
mention,  as  one  instance  of  what  we  may  look  forward 
to  in  the  future  from  the  opening-up  of  the  country 
traversed  by  the  railway,  that  I  heard  from  the  vice- 
president,  Mr.  Van  Home,  the  other  day,  that  a  ship 
had  left  or  was  about  to  leave  Yokohama  with  a  cargo 
of  teas  for  Vancouver,  and  that  these  teas  are  to  be 
carried  over  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  and  deliv- 
ered not  only  in  Montreal,  Ottawa,  and  Toronto,  but 
in  St.  Paul,  Chicago,  New  York,  and  the  New  England 
States.  This  shipment  would  be  equal  to  about  one 
hundred  carloads  and  would  be  a  very  substantial  com- 
mencement of  the  trade  which  we  expect  with  China 
and  Japan. 

I  think  we  may  look  with  great  hope  to  the  future 
from  such  a  commencement,  and  while  business  may 
not  be  so  prosperous  at  this  moment  as  we  would  wish 
it  to  be,  still  we  may  confidently  anticipate  that  the 
business  of  Montreal  and  of  Canada  will  steadily  en- 
large, and  that  with  the  same  efficient  management  of 
the  bank  which  has  secured  such  good  profits  to  the 
shareholders,  the  results  will  not  only  be  equal  to  what 
they  have  had  in  the  past,  but  will  be  even  better. 

129 


Lord  Strathcona 
Before  the  meeting  closed  Mr.  Crawford  said :  — 

I  believe  I  voice  the  sentiments  of  the  shareholders 
present  in  tendering  our  sincere  congratulations  to  the 
vice-president  of  the  bank,  Sir  Donald  A.  Smith,  for 
the  mark  of  distinction  which  Her  Gracious  Majesty 
has  been  pleased  to  confer  upon  him,  an  honour  which 
I  trust  he  may  long  be  spared  to  enjoy,  and  also  to 
adorn.  It  is  a  fitting  complement  to  the  distinction 
conferred  upon  his  colleague,  Sir  George  Stephen. 

Less  than  twenty  years  later l  Lord  Strathcona, 
in  opening  the  new  and  palatial  London  offices 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company,  took 
occasion  to  tell  the  distinguished  audience  then 
assembled :  — 

Thirty-five  years  ago  there  were  not,  perhaps,  five 
people  in  Canada  who  thought  there  could  ever  be  a 
railway  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  in  the  Domin- 
ion, round  the  north  of  Lake  Superior.  However,  the 
Government  were  determined,  and  entered  into  a  con- 
tract with  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company. 
That  was  in  1880  and  the  Company  had  ten  years  to 
complete  the  line,  but  it  was  generally  considered  that 
quite  another  ten  years  would  be  required.  The  road, 
however,  was  completed  on  November  7,  1885,  and  in 
1886  was  opened  for  through  traffic.  The  resulting 
benefits  to  Canada  have  been  very  great.  Previously 
there  had  been  no  means  of  going  to  North-West  Can- 
ada except  by  the  United  States,  but  now  it  was  possi- 
ble to  travel  from  Montreal  to  Winnipeg  in  two  days 
and  to  British  Columbia  —  that  was  to  Vancouver  — 
in  four  and  a  half  days  —  a  very  great  change,  indeed ! 
1  January,  1904. 
130 


Sir  Charles  Tupper's  Tribute 

At  the  time  the  contract  was  given  out,  it  was  be- 
lieved that  the  railway  could  not  possibly  be  a  success : 
one  eminent  statesman,  indeed,  said  that  it  would 
"never  earn  enough  to  pay  for  the  grease  required  for 
the  wheels  of  the  carriages."  To-day  it  was  an  assured 
success.  Not  only  did  their  line  run  from  St.  John  to 
the  Pacific,  but  in  connection  with  it  the  Empress  line 
of  steamers  ran  to  Japan  and  China,  and  there  were  no 
more  comfortable  steamers  on  the  ocean.  More  re- 
cently the  company  had  taken  up  a  line  of  steamers 
from  Great  Britain  to  Canada,  the  Far  East,  and 
Australia.  In  good  time  would  come  a  much  faster 
service  of  steamers,  as  a  complement  to  the  railway. 
As  a  result  of  the  great  prosperity  of  Canada  the  traf- 
fic was  increasing  and  it  was  bound  to  go  on  increasing. 
When  the  railway  was  begun  there  was  nothing  to 
send  from  the  North- West  but  the  furs  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company.  Within  the  last  two  years,  however, 
the  North-West  has  sent  out  more  than  one  hundred 
million  bushels  of  grain !  l 

Sir  George  Stephen  was  the  actual  head  of  the 
undertaking:  no  one  could  justly  minimize  the 
signal  part  he  had  played.  At  the  same  time  few 
tributes  paid  to  Sir  Donald  Smith  were  more  just, 
and,  it  may  be  added,  more  gratifying  to  the  man 
whose  prescience  foresaw  and  whose  strong  hand 

1  "As  to  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  in  connection  with  which 
the  popular  imagination  has  always  inclined  to  exalt  him  [Mr.  Smith] 
above  all  others,  —  he  well  knew  what  was  due  to  others  as  well  as 
to  himself,  and  remembered  to  give  credit  where  credit  was  due.  In 
accepting  a  presentation  in  London  in  November,  1907,  he  used 
these  words :  '  Had  it  not  been  for  the  cordial  cooperation  of  all  my 
colleagues  who  undertook  the  contract  it  would  have  been  impossible 
to  have  carried  it  through.  Happily  we  were  all  in  perfect  accord.' " 
(Sir  William  Peterson.) 


Lord  Strathcona 

educed  and  promoted  this  great  national  project, 
than  that  uttered  by  Sir  Charles  Tupper  in  1897 :  ~ 

The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  would  have  no  exist- 
ence to-day,  notwithstanding  all  that  the  Government 
did  to  support  that  undertaking,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  indomitable  pluck  and  energy  and  determination, 
both  financially  and  in  every  other  respect,  of  Sir 
'  Donald  Smith. 

Amongst  those  snow-capped  mountains  two  lofty 
summits  bear  the  names  of  these  two  Morayshire 
kinsmen.  As  long  as  the  earth's  surface  remains 
unaltered  and  our  language  and  traditions  survive, 
Mount  Stephen,  on  the  one  hand,  and  Mount  Sir 
Donald  on  the  other,  will  rear  their  heights  heaven- 
ward, to  commemorate  one  of  the  greatest  achieve- 
ments of  patriotism,  industry,  and  engineering  since 
the  days  of  the  Roman  Caesars.1 

NOTE  TO  CHAPTER  XVIII 

Alluding  to  the  increased  prosperity  of  Canada  in 
fifteen  years,  Sir  Richard  Cartwright,  late  Minister  of 
Trade  and  Commerce,  stated  that  in  1896  Canadian  Pa- 
cific Railway  stock,  "which  is  now  near  $300  per  share, 

1  "The  conception  of  a  transcontinental  railway  was  a  magnificent 
act  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  Canadian  Dominion.  The  Dominion 
contains  a  population  of  under  five  millions  of  people,  and  its  area 
consists  of  nearly  three  and  a  half  millions  of  square  miles.  Such  a 
population,  inhabiting  so  vast  a  territory,  has  manifested  so  profound 
a  faith  in  its  own  future  that  it  has  conceived  and  executed  within  a 
few  years  a  work  which,  a  generation  ago,  might  well  have  appalled 
the  wealthiest  and  most  powerful  of  nations.  It  is  a  material  mani- 
festation of  the  growing  solidity  of  the  Empire,  and  a  proof  of  the 
invincible  energy  of  the  Canadian  subjects  of  the  British  Crown." 
(Canada  and  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway.) 

132 


MOUNT   SIR   DONALD    IN    THE  ROCKY   MOUNTAINS 


Canada's  Development 

was  selling  at  $50."  In  other  words,  the  whole  common 
stock  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  was  worth  at 
current  market  price  $32,000,000  in  1896.  It  is  now 
worth  over  $500,000,000.  The  total  number  of  home- 
stead entries  in  the  North-West  was  in  that  year 
1300  as  against  an  average  for  the  last  few  years  of 
30,000  and  40,000.  Take  the  volume  of  trade  and  com- 
merce for  the  Dominion.  In  1874  this  had  touched 
$217,000,000.  In  1896,  with  an  increased  population 
of  1,000,000,  it  was  barely  $239,000,000,  being  a  con- 
siderable reduction  per  capita,  and  a  total  growth  in 
twenty-two  years  of  just  $1,000,000  a  year;  and  in 
1911-12  it  was  over  $650,000,000. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  MANITOBA  SCHOOLS  QUESTION 
1886-1896 

FOR  five  years  Sir  Donald  had  ceased  to  be  a 
member  of  Parliament.  His  prestige  throughout 
the  country  following  the  triumphant  completion 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  and  his  reconcil- 
iation with  Sir  John  Macdonald,  made  it  highly 
probable  that  before  the  next  general  election,  he 
would  be  offered  a  nomination  in  some  constitu- 
ency. The  long-wished-for  reconciliation  with  Sir 
John  had  been  brought  about  in  the  simplest 
and  most  natural  manner.  Mr.  George  Stephen, 
calling  upon  Sir  John  at  his  hotel  in  London,  was 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Smith.  The  visit  was  un- 
premeditated. They  shook  hands  cordially;  there 
was  no  embarrassment,  no  allusion,  tacit  or  overt, 
to  what  had  passed  —  the  conversation  was  pur- 
sued as  naturally  as  if  they  had  met  but  yesterday 
and  a  schism  had  not  yawned  between  them  for 
more  than  a  decade.  The  healing  of  the  breach 
between  the  two  statesmen  was  complete,  and  I 
have  the  high  authority  of  Sir  Joseph  Pope  for 
stating  that  never  thereafter,  in  public  or  private, 
by  word,  look,  or  gesture,  did  Sir  John  reveal  any 
but  the  frankest  and  most  unclouded  cordiality  for 
the  former  member  for  Selkirk.1 

1  I  am  indebted  to  a  friend  for  the  following  interesting  incident 

134 


A  Winnipeg  Deputation 

Winnipeg  was  not  long  in  expressing  a  desire  for 
Mr.  Smith's  parliamentary  services.  A  deputation 
from  that  city  waited  upon  him  in  Montreal  toward 
the  close  of  1886  and  besought  him  in  the  most 
flattering  terms  to  become  the  candidate. 

I  told  them  that  while  fully  alive  to  the  compliment 
they  paid  me,  and  much  as  I  felt  drawn  to  a  constitu- 
ency full  for  me  of  pleasant  associations,  I  was  not 
eager  to  return  to  political  life  and  that,  as  the  matter 
had  taken  me  by  surprise,  I  must  have  time  for  consid- 
eration. 

It  was  then  that  a  close  friend  and  neighbor,  Mr. 
James  A.  Cantlie,2  observed:  — 

If  you  really  again  contemplate  Parliament,  why  go 
so  far  afield  as  Winnipeg  for  a  seat?  There  will  shortly 

illustrating  the  relationship  between  the  two  men.  A  private  bill, 
inimical  to  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  was  impending.  Accom- 
panied by  one  of  his  colleagues,  Mr.  Smith,  late  one  evening,  was  duly 
ushered  into  Sir  John's  study.  There  was  a  small  desk  in  one  corner 
before  which  the  Prime  Minister,  after  a  dignified  greeting,  seated 
himself.  Mr.  Smith  recapitulated  the  situation,  then  rising  he  began 
to  approach  the  front  or  back  of  the  desk,  facing  Sir  John,  uttering 
a  pregnant  sentence  with  each  step  forward.  "You  see,  Sir  John, 
this  thing  cannot  be.  It  must  not  be,  Sir  John.  It  must  not,  it  really 
must  not  be."  Raising  his  voice,  he  reached  the  desk  and  leaned  over 
it,  shaking  an  ominous  forefinger,  while  the  Prime  Minister  shrank 
back,  "I  tell  you,  Sir  John,  it  MUST  NOT  BE  !" 

Sir  John's  expression  relaxed.  "Come,  come,  Mr.  Smith,"  he  said 
with  a  smile,  "I  never  said  it  would,  could,  or  should  be.  Pray  sit 
down."  He  then  explained  that  the  Government  had  no  intention  of 
giving  any  unfair  advantage  to  a  rival  road,  and  after  having  fur- 
nished the  fullest  assurances  on  this  head,  shook  hands  with  his 
visitors  and  accompanied  them,  good-humouredly,  in  the  "wee,  sma' 
hours,"  to  the  door. 

*  One  of  the  most  respected  citizens  of  Montreal,  and  brother-in- 
law  to  Lord  Mount  Stephen. 

135 


Lord  Strathcona 

be  a  vacancy  in  Montreal  West  —  I  can  assure  you  of 
a  triumphant  return. 

No  decision  had  been  reached  when  Sir  Donald 
left  for  England,  but  it  scarcely  came  as  a  surprise 
when  in  London,  at  the  close  of  1886,  a  cablegram 
reached  him  from  the  chairman  of  the  local  Con- 
servative Association,  advising  him  of  such  nomi- 
nation. He  instantly  replied :  — 

I  appreciate  the  honour  of  nomination  and  accept  it, 
if  electors  are  satisfied  with  my  assurance  that  as  an 
independent  member,  uninfluenced  by  any  other  con- 
siderations than  those  having  in  view  the  best  interests 
of  our  common  country,  I  will,  if  elected,  use  every 
effort  to  further  the  material  progress  of  the  Domin- 
ion, and  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  City  of  Mon- 
treal. 

To  Miss  Mactavish 

BROWN'S  HOTEL,  LONDON, 
3d  January,  1887. 

Although  there  is  nothing  much  the  matter  with  me, 
I  have  not  been  able  to  be  out  of  the  hotel  for  more 
than  three  hours  altogether  since  my  arrival  here  on 
Sunday  of  last  week.  Sir  Andrew  Clark,  however,  tells 
me  there  is  nothing  organic  and  that  I  may  expect  to 
be  "all  right"  again  very  soon. 

Lord  Randolph  Churchill's  escapade  has,  indeed, 
the  appearance  of  an  extraordinary  freak,  and  yet,  of 
course,  we  do  not  know  all  the  particulars  as  they  affect 
both  sides.  Still,  to  have  abandoned  his  colleagues  at 
such  a  moment  hardly  appears  capable  of  being  justi- 
fied. Let  us  hope  the  accession  to  the  Ministry  of  Mr. 
Goschen  will  make  up  for  the  loss  of  the  other. 

136 


Accepts  Montreal  Nomination 

Although  I  do  not  go  out,  Sir  George  Stephen  and 
some  other  friends  occasionally  spend  part  of  the  even- 
ing with  me :  so  that  I  am  not  left  absolutely  alone. 

Afterwards  in  February,  addressing  the  electors 
in  Montreal,  he  told  them  he  did  not  intend  to  make 
any  explicit  statement  of  his  political  principles :  — 

I  was  an  active  politician  of  the  time  when  the  good 
old  custom  —  if  it  were  a  good  old  custom  —  was  in 
vogue  of  verbal  nominations,  when  each  candidate 
spoke  about  the  other,  and  sometimes  when  he  did  not 
spare  his  opponent's  feelings.  But  since  you  have  been 
so  very  good  to  meet  here  on  this  occasion  to  reaffirm 
your  approval  of  my  nomination  as  your  candidate  for 
the  Western  division  of  Montreal,  I  must  tell  you  that 
it  is  very  gratifying  to  me,  indeed,  and  that  I  value 
very  highly  the  good  opinions  of  the  gentlemen  whom 
I  see  before  me,  as  well  as  of  many  others  who,  I  am 
informed,  look  favourably  on  my  nomination. 

I  am  disposed  to  judge  of  measures  more  than  of 
men.  At  the  same  time,  if  a  Government  may  have 
made  some  blunders,  I  am  not  disposed  to  oppose  them 
because  of  this.  We  know  that  success  depends  not  on 
absolute  perfection,  but  that  with  individuals  as  with 
governments,  to  make  fewest  mistakes  is  the  criterion 
of  success.  I  will  not  be  disposed  to  denounce  the  whole 
policy  of  a  Government  because  of  this  measure  or  of 
that  measure,  provided  it  be  not  one  of  principle  and 
one  calculated  to  be  injurious  to  the  community  and 
the  Dominion  at  large.  I  come  forward  as  an  inde- 
pendent candidate,  prepared  to  give  my  support  to 
what  I  believe  is  in  the  interests  of  my  constituents 
and  of  vital  interest  to  the  Dominion. 

There  was,  however  [he  continued],  one  great  ques- 

137 


Lord  Strathcona 

tion  affecting  the  country  upon  which  he  hoped  senti- 
ment was  united. 

I  shall  do  everything  in  my  power  that  may  be  re- 
quired in  forwarding  the  interests  of  the  Dominion  in 
respect  to  what  is  known  as  the  National  Policy  and  I 
shall  encourage  that  due  and  proper  protection  which 
is  necessary  for  the  industries  of  a  new  country. 

We  are  not  usually  given  to  boasting  in  Canada. 
We  know,  and  we  are  not  ashamed  to  own,  that  we  are 
a  smaller  and  poorer  people  at  this  very  moment  than 
those  on  the  other  side  of  the  line.  While  they  maintain 
high  protective  tariffs,  if  we  allowed  everything  to 
come  in  here  just  as  they  should  like,  we  all  know  what 
would  very  soon  become  of  Canada.  We  must  judge 
facts  by  the  circumstances  of  the  moment,  and  of  the 
place ;  while  free  trade  may  be  very  good  for  England, 
and  while  I  might  support  it  there  with  certain  modifi- 
cations, I  should  be  very  sorry  to  see  it  introduced  in 
this  country  and  would  oppose  its  adoption.  I  do  not 
mean  that  duties  should  become  so  onerous  as  to  mili- 
tate against  the  material  interests  of  one  class  or  the 
other.  The  National  Policy  is  for  the  benefit  of  all. 
We  know  that  if  you  have  not  manufactories  and  if 
you  have  not  the  means  of  giving  work  to  the  people 
of  the  country,  you  cannot  have  prosperity  and  prog- 
ress. While  we  may  have  articles  at  a  low  price,  yet, 
if  wages  were  also  very  low,  the  workman  would  lack 
the  means  of  purchasing  them.  Simply  to  be  able  to 
purchase  at  a  low  price,  with  wages  also  exceptionally 
low,  would  be  no  advantage  to  the  people.  But  we 
know,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  effect  of  protection 
has  been  materially  to  increase  the  demand  for  labour 
and  raise  the  wages  of  the  workman,  without  adding 
to  the  costs  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  If  you  have  not 

138 


Advocates  Technical  Education 

your  industries  "in  full  blast,"  you  can  have  no  pros- 
perity. 

He  had  become  an  earnest  advocate  of  technical 
education,  a  field  of  effort  which  he  afterward  left  to 
his  friend,  Sir  William  Macdonald. 

There  is  one  reform  which  I  think  should  be  intro- 
duced into  Canada,  so  as  to  enable  our  employers  of 
labour  and  those  whom  they  employ  to  compete  with 
the  other  people  of  other  countries.  I  think  we  should 
all  —  manufacturers  and  workmen  alike  —  put  our 
shoulder  to  the  wheel  and  endeavour  to  have  estab- 
lished technical  and  trade  schools,  which  would  be  of 
immense  advantage  to  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  We 
all  know  that  occasionally  there  is  a  slight  suspicion 
thrown  on  the  sincerity  of  promises  made  during  an 
election  campaign,  so  perhaps  it  is  better  I  should  not 
make  too  many  promises,  but  this  I  believe  to  be  a 
benefit  to  the  country,  upon  which  men  of  all  shades 
of  politics  can  join. 

I  am  proud  to  find  gentlemen  who  have  met  to- 
gether not  because  they  belong  strictly  to  one  side  of 
politics  or  to  the  other,  but  that  notwithstanding  they 
have  views  on  certain  matters  different  from  each  other, 
they  come  to  give  me  their  support  on  this  occasion.  It 
shall  be  my  first  effort  always  to  show  that  their  confi- 
dence has  not  been  misplaced,  and  if  returned  to  Parlia- 
ment by  your  suffrages,  I  shall,  as  long  as  I  represent 
you,  do  my  utmost  to  promote  your  interests. 

On  another  occasion  he  said :  — 

In  connection  with  the  condition  of  working-men  I 
believe  that  such  means  should  be  placed  at  their  dis- 
posal, at  the  public  cost,  as  would  enable  them  by 

139 


Lord  Strathcona 

technical  education  to  become  the  most  skilled  arti- 
sans. This  is  not  a  new  idea  of  mine.  I  have  for  years 
past  advocated  technical  education  in  Canada,  to  en- 
able our  working-men  to  compete  with  those  of  other 
countries  where  the  system  is  in  operation.  France  was 
the  first  to  introduce  it,  and  soon  the  working-men  of 
France  became  more  skilful  in  artistic  work  than  those 
of  England,  and  England  had  to  follow  the  example  of 
the  French.  Would  it  not  be  a  grand  thing  for  us  to 
say  of  any  artistic  piece  of  workmanship,  "That  was 
made  in  Canada"? 

Sir  Donald  went  on  to  touch  on  the  subject  of 
"  temperance  "  which  was  even  then  "  a  vital  and 
burning  question."  He  was  no  bigot  himself,  and 
discouraged  it  in  others. 

I  am  not  afraid  to  speak  on  the  subject  of  tem- 
perance here  or  anywhere.  I  have  been  temperate 
throughout  all  my  life.  I  have  taken  a  glass  of  cham- 
pagne, or  a  glass  of  some  other  wine ;  but  I  have  never 
taken  too  much.  I  may  even  have  enjoyed  a  glass  of 
liquor,  but  I  always  allow  my  friends  who  think  other- 
wise to  do  according  to  their  will.  I  respect  no  man 
better  whether  he  abstain  altogether  or  whether  he 
drink  in  strict  moderation.  I  shall  always  be  in  favour 
of  laws  that  can  advance  the  cause  of  true  temperance 
in  the  country. 

As  the  campaign  proceeded  he  addressed  many 
meetings.  Thus,  early  in  February,  he  dealt  with 
the  tariff  question :  — 

We  are  all  fighting  in  a  good  cause  —  the  industries 
of  this  country  of  ours.  The  question  is  not  a  party 
matter,  but  one  which  men  of  all  parties  can  join 

140 


Protection  vs.  Free-Trade 

i 

heartily  in,  which  they  cannot  do  if  the  issue  be 
narrowed  down  to  a  mere  party  question.  It  cannot 
be  denied  that  a  new  country  cannot  hold  its  own 
against  a  rich  and  powerful  neighbour,  fully  equipped 
with  the  best  methods,  appliances,  and  machinery,  and 
a  hundredfold  more  wealthy,  unless  that  new  country 
protects  its  industries  and  thus  protects  itself.  It  is 
entirely  different  in  England  and  Europe,  which  for 
hundreds  of  years  have  controlled  the  commerce  and 
markets  of  the  world,  and  have  been  so  long  estab- 
lished that  they  fear  no  competition.  England  had 
established  "free  trade"  and  for  years  had  maintained 
it  against  the  nations  of  the  world,  but  even  in  Eng- 
land they  are  beginning  to  realize  that  it  is  not 
perfect.  The  other  nations  did  not  come  to  meet  them, 
and  to-day  there  is  a  strong  feeling  throughout  the 
land  that  "  fair  trade  "  would  be  more  equitable  to  the 
whole  people.  As  a  nation,  Canada  does  not  want 
undue  protection,  but  on  such  goods  as  can  be  pro- 
duced in  the  country  the  duty  should  lie.  As  regards 
luxuries,  he  was  of  the  opinion  that  taxation  on  them 
was  highly  justifiable.  He  spoke  of  the  excellent  native 
wines  produced  in  this  country,  and  thought  if  we  had 
to  pay  a  heavier  duty  upon  imported  champagnes,  we 
might,  perhaps,  produce  these  native  wines  of  a  better 
quality.  Many  persons  may  be  found  who  would  say 
that  increased  duties  mean  an  increase  in  price,  but 
this  was  erroneous.  It  had  been  proved,  and  most  con- 
clusively proved  that  the  very  opposite  is  the  case 
when  properly  protected  native  industry  can  supply 
what  is  required  more  cheaply  than  outsiders.  As  a 
matter  of  vital  interest  to  farmers,  he  instanced  the 
article  of  land  plaster,  which  a  few  years  ago  was 
entirely  imported,  and  to-day  it  was  manufactured  in 

141 


Lord  Strathcona 

Canada  and  sold  cheaper  now  than  ever  before.  While 
the  farmers  got  the  article  cheaper,  the  workmen  now 
received  from  $i  .40  per  day,  while  under  the  Mackenzie 
regime  they  worked  for  90  cents  and  $l.  With  clear 
consciences  the  electors  of  this  great  Dominion  might 
all  use  their  best  efforts  and  work  together  to  "let  well 
enough  alone." 

It  must  be,  of  course,  understood  that  the  present 
Government  are  progressive  enough  to  introduce  any 
measure  that  will  tend  to  the  improvement  and  ad- 
vancement of  the  country.  We  are  all  agreed  as  to  the 
necessity  that  exists  for  protection,  and  that  those  en- 
gaged in  our  industries  should  be  put  in  a  position  to 
compete  successfully  with  the  manufacturers  of  other 
countries.  To  do  this,  mechanics  and  others  should 
receive  the  advantages  of  all  available  technical  knowl- 
edge, not  merely  the  "three  R's,"  but  a  thorough 
practical  knowledge  which  will  fit  them  to  take  the  best 
places  in  their  sphere  of  life.  It  is  the  workman  of 
to-day  who  is  being  fitted  to  become  the  employer  of 
the  future.  If  elected  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to  put 
within  his  reach  all  such  knowledge  as  would  assist 
him  in  being  worthy  the  confidence  of  the  people. 

Coming  down  to  the  city  of  Montreal,  there  are  sub- 
jects of  the  deepest  and  gravest  importance,  notably 
the  deepening  of  the  harbour.  It  remains  with  our- 
selves, the  citizens,  to  make  Montreal  not  only  the 
second  to  no  city  in  Canada,  but  second  to  none  on  the 
Continent.  Such  works  as  these  are  not  of  merely  mu- 
nicipal character,  but  are  of  benefit  to  all  other  places 
in  the  Dominion,  and  as  a  city  we  now  have  a  right  to 
insist  that  the  expense  shall  no  longer  be  borne  by 
us,  but  shall  be  taken  up  by  the  Dominion,  as  the 
Dominion  at  large  thereby  benefits. 

142 


The  "National  Policy" 

He  had  to  dwell  frequently  upon  the  so-called 
"National  Policy":— 

We  all  know  that  for  some  eight  years  back,  we  have 
had  a  measure  of  prosperity  in  Canada  which  was  ab- 
sent for  many  years  before.  We  know  and  we  appre- 
ciate that  this  in  a  very  great  measure  is  owing  to  the 
proper  protection  which  has  been  given  to  the  indus- 
tries of  Canada  by  the  Conservative  Government. 
This  protection  was  necessary  to  make  Canada  a  great 
nation.  If  we  had  not  the  National  Policy,  Canada 
would  have  been  swamped  by  the  importation  of  goods 
from  the  United  States  and  elsewhere,  and  we  would 
neither  have  manufacturers  in  the  country  nor  employ- 
ment for  our  people.  Therefore  it  is  that  I  believe  we 
should  maintain  the  position  which  we  now  hold  and 
which  I  shall  endeavour  to  do  so  far  as  it  lies  in  my 
power.  I  feel  that  in  voting  for  the  supporters  of  the 
National  Policy  you  will  be  supporting  your  own  inter- 
ests. 

In  one  of  his  speeches  he  told  how,  when  return- 
ing on  the  steamer  to  New  York,  he  met  an  Ameri- 
can gentleman.  The  talk  turned  on  the  National 
Policy  in  Canada,  and  his  acquaintance,  being 
an  extensive  manufacturer,  took  some  interest  in 
the  question,  holding  that,  before  the  National 
Policy  was  introduced  in  Canada,  he  was  doing  a 
fine  trade,  but  since  Canadians  learned  to  make 
their  own  goods  for  their  own  markets,  and  to  pro- 
tect their  native  industries,  he  could  not  sell  in 
Canada  at  all. 

The  question  for  working-men  and  manufacturers  is, 
"Do  you  want  to  return  to  lower  wages  and  to  lower 

143 


Lord  Strathcona 

prices  for  the  necessaries  of  life?"  as  was  the  case  dur- 
ing the  Liberal  Administration,  or,  "Do  you  wish  to 
remain  happy  and  prosperous  and  progressive  as  you 
are  at  present?"  The  course  for  the  constituencies  is 
to  support  the  National  Policy  candidates,  to  keep 
things  as  they  are,  and  to  make  them  as  much  better 
as  we  can.  One  of  the  largest  woollen  manufactories 
in  the  Dominion  wrote  me  how  the  National  Policy 
affected  their  factory  in  Sherbrooke.  Before  the  intro- 
duction of  the  National  Policy,  the  wages  paid  to  em- 
ployees were  $80,000,  and  for  the  seven  years  since, 
the  wages  were  more  than  fifty  per  cent  beyond  this. 
During  the  seven  years  of  the  National  Policy  they 
had  paid  $246,000  more  to  those  employed  in  their 
factories  than  they  did  before  there  was  protection  for 
the  industry.  As  is  the  case  with  one  factory,  so  it  is 
all  over  Canada,  and  as  our  population  and  industries 
grow,  the  necessity  for  this  policy  on  the  part  of  the 
Government  will  become  all  the  more  imperative  if  our 
country  is  to  prosper.  I  have  no  doubt  that  you,  the 
electors,  will  see  the  necessity  for  sustaining  the  Gov- 
ernment in  this  policy,  and  that  you  will  give  a  hearty 
and  generous  support  to  the  candidates  who  are  pledged 
to  advocate  it. 

On  previous  occasions,  as  now,  I  have  stood  before 
many  French  Canadians,  and  am  proud  to  say  I  always 
have  had  their  support.  I  have,  indeed,  had  in  the  past 
a  very  warm  support  from  my  French  Canadian  coun- 
trymen, and  I  believe  I  will  have  their  support,  too,  in 
the  present  contest.  It  is  not  my  own  battle  I  am 
fighting,  because  there  is  nothing  that  can  benefit  me 
that  will  not  benefit  you,  and  if  elected,  as  I  have  every 
confidence  I  shall  be,  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to  for- 
ward the  interests  of  my  constituents. 

144 


Returned  for  Montreal 

Speaking  of  the  customs  regulations,  Sir  Donald 
remarked :  — 

Unquestionably  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the 
customs  laws  should  be  enforced  with  as  little  incon- 
venience as  possible  to  the  merchants,  having  regard 
to  the  due  collection  of  the  duties.  There  can  be  no 
necessity  or  excuse  for  a  friction  between  merchants 
and  importers  with  the  law  properly  laid  down,  and 
no  difficulty  should  arise  with  officers  who  know  and 
discharge  their  duties  faithfully,  and  at  the  same  time 
with  civility  and  courteousness  to  merchants.  I  con- 
sider it  the  duty  of  a  representative  of  an  important 
commercial  community  like  this  to  see  that  the  laws 
are  satisfactorily  enforced,  and  I  shall  certainly  make 
it  my  duty  to  see  to  this  when,  as  I  believe,  you  will 
elect  me  as  your  member. 

On  the  23d  of  February  the  election  took  place, 
and  he  was  triumphantly  returned.  In  the  course 
of  a  speech  on  that  day,  he  said :  — 

The  employer  and  the  employee,  both  alike,  were 
bent  upon  protecting  the  great  interests  of  this  great 
country.  Having  honoured  him  with  their  confidence, 
he  trusted  that  he  would  be  able  to  prove  to  them  that 
that  confidence  was  not  misplaced.  It  was  the  duty  of 
all  to  work  together  to  support  the  National  Policy. 
It  was  that  policy  which  made  Canada  what  she  is, 
and  the  people  of  Montreal  had  declared  that  there 
should  be  no  retrograding,  no  going  back  to  an  era  of 
depression  and  soup  kitchens.  For  himself  he  would 
prefer  to  have  a  little  leisure,  but  there  are  times  when 
for  the  public  good  a  man  must  not  study  his  own 
convenience.  Anything  he  could  do  in  the  interests  of 
domestic  manufactures  and  of  the  country  at  large 

145 


Lord  Strathcona 

should  be  cheerfully  done.  If  we  did  not  take  care  of 
ourselves,  no  one  else  would.  Canada  shall  be  no 
"slaughter  market"  for  the  United  States,  and  while 
we  are  all  prepared  to  go  in  heartily  for  Reciprocity, 
we  want  no  one-sided  arrangement. 

A  banquet  was  given  in  honour  of  the  new  mem- 
ber in  the  following  month.  Replying  to  the  toast 
of  his  health,  he  said:  — 

Having  spent  fifty  years  of  my  life  in  Canada,  I  also 
can  claim  to  be  a  Canadian.  And  while  calling  your- 
selves Canadians  you  can  also  rejoice  in  the  rejoicing 
of  the  Mother  Country,  and  that  you  will  have  this 
year  an  opportunity  of  celebrating  the  Jubilee  of  Her 
Majesty.  We  have  cause  to  be  satisfied  that  we  have 
been  under  the  beneficent  reign  of  that  Queen  and  that 
no  part  of  the  world  has  progressed  more  during  those 
fifty  years  than  Canada.  With  all  the  facilities  we  at 
present  enjoy  for  coming  together,  with  the  railway,  the 
telegraph,  and  the  telephone  facilities,  where  those  two 
thousand  miles  away  are  brought  nearer  together  than 
was  Montreal  and  Ottawa  thirty  years  ago,  what  will 
this  country  be  thirty  years  hence,  if  we  are  true  to 
ourselves? 

Jointly  with  his  cousin,  Lord  Mount  Stephen,  he 
set  apart  one  million  dollars  to  erect  a  great 
hospital  in  Montreal  to  commemorate  the  Queen's 
Jubilee.  Later,  when  the  building  had  been  erected 
on  the  side  of  Mount  Royal,  they  gave  equally  in 
the  sum  of  $800,000  to  endow  the  institution. 
There  could  be  no  finer  site  for  a  hospital,  over- 
looking, as  it  does,  the  whole  city  of  Montreal  and 
the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Behind  rises  the 

146 


Royal  Victoria  College 

mountain,  terraced  with  sylvan  retreats;  before  lie 
the  squares  and  steeples,  and  the  glittering  river; 
and  beyond  that,  on  the  south  shore,  the  open 
country,  with  here  and  there  a  domed  mountain. 
At  intervals  a  town  or  village  is  visible  or  the  metal- 
cased  steeple  of  a  parish  church  that  flashes  like  a 
poniard  in  the  sun. 

This  hospital,  the  Royal  Victoria,  is  one  of  the 
best  equipped  institutions  on  the  continent.  Mod- 
ern science  was  drawn  upon  to  furnish  it  ade- 
quately, and  by  reason  of  its  large  endowment  it 
has  since  kept  pace  with  the  newest  discoveries  and 
inventions. 

But  this  was  not  the  only  institution  which  was 
to  bear  the  name  of  Victoria.  He  had  long  ere  this 
had  his  thoughts  directed  toward  educational  plans 
and  problems  and  was  a  liberal  patron  of  McGill 
University.  In  October,  1886,  an  endowment  was 
created  in  aid  of  the  higher  education  of  women, 
amounting  to  $120,000,  which  sum  was  to  be  de- 
voted to  provide  a  collegiate  education  for  women 
in  the  manner  and  form  and  for  the  time  being  as 
declared  in  the  deed  evidencing  such  endowment. 
By  that  deed  it  was  also  provided  that  in  the  event 
of  the  donor,  .by  himself  or  in  conjunction  with 
others,  taking  further  steps  for  extending  the  en- 
dowment and  obtaining  an  act  of  incorporation 
for  a  college  for  the  purpose  named,  the  donation 
should  be  transferred  to  the  college.  A  year  or  two 
later  Sir  Donald  communicated  his  intention  to 
found  an  endowment  for  a  college,  with  a  pre- 
paratory school  or  branch  to  be  established  in 

147 


Lord  Strathcona 

Winnipeg  or  "at  such  other  point  or  points  in  the 
Province  of  Manitoba  or  the  North-West  Terri- 
tories, or  in  British  Columbia,  as  shall  hereafter  be 
determined."  An  act  of  incorporation  was  obtained 
from  Parliament,  of  the  Royal  Victoria  College. 
The  completion  of  this  scheme  was,  as  we  shall  see, 
deferred  for  some  years. 

In  February,  1888,  his  only  daughter,  Margaret 
Charlotte,  married  Mr.  Robert  Jared  Bliss  Howard, 
of  Montreal,  son  of  the  Dean  of  the  Faculty  of 
Medicine  at  McGill  University.  Three  years  later 
Sir  Donald's  first  grandson,  Donald  Sterling 
Palmer,  the  present  heir  to  the  barony,  was  born.1 

On  November  I,  1889,  Sir  Donald  was  in- 
augurated Chancellor  of  McGill.  The  ceremony 
took  place  in  the  William  Molson  Hall,  and  the 
room  was  crowded  with  influential  citizens  and 
students  of  both  sexes.  The  Governors  and  the 
faculty  entered  the  room  attired  in  their  robes,  and 
were  loudly  cheered  by  the  students,  who  rose  in  a 
body  to  receive  them.  Sir  Donald  followed  in  his 
black  gown,  with  red  hood,  cap  in  hand,  walking 
slowly  past  the  rows  of  cheering  students. 

The  chairman  introduced  the  new  Chancellor. 
Having  alluded  to  the  fact  that  Sir  Donald's  ex- 
alted position,  and  the  interest  he  took  in  the 
cause  of  education,  entitled  him  to  a  high  place  in 
their  regard,  he  said  that  in  selecting  Sir  Donald 

1  A  daughter,  Frances  Margaret  Palmer  (now  the  Honourable 
Mrs.  Kitson),  had  been  born  in  1889.  A  second  grandson,  Lieutenant 
the  Honourable  Robert  Henry  Palmer  Howard,  born  in  1893,  was 
killed  in  action  in  May,  1915.  The  other  children  are  Edith,  born  in 
1895,  and  Arthur,  born  in  1896. 

148 


MARGARET   CHARLOTTE,   THE   PRESENT   LADY    STRATHCONA 
circa  1885 


Chancellor  of  McGill 

Smith  as  Chancellor  they  felt  that  the  honour  was 
well  bestowed. 

The  senior  member  of  the  Board  of  Governors, 
Mr.  Peter  Redpath,  then  conducted  Sir  Donald  to 
the  chair  amid  cheers.  Mr.  Redpath  congratulated 
him  upon  his  election  to  an  office  of  which  any  man 
might  be  proud,  which  was  the  highest  honour  the 
university  could  bestow.  The  Governors,  in  choos- 
ing their  Chancellor,  had  not  disappointed  pub- 
lic expectation,  and  he  believed  that  under  Sir 
Donald's  administration  the  university  would  con- 
tinue to  enjoy  the  prosperity  which  had  for  a 
number  of  years  attended  it.  In  response  the 
Chancellor  said :  — 

I  thank  you  as  earnestly  and  as  sincerely  as  it  is 
possible  for  me  to  do  for  the  greeting  you  have  given 
me.  This  university  cannot  boast  of  great  antiquity, 
but  as  Paris,  Oxford,  and  Cambridge  are  the  oldest  in 
Europe,  and  Harvard  is  the  oldest  in  America,  so  is 
McGill  the  oldest  in  Canada.  Of  the  great  men  who 
were  trained  in  the  European  schools,  it  is  unnecessary 
for  me  to  speak,  as  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  say 
anything  you  do  not  already  know  regarding  them; 
but  you  must  premise  as  the  outcome  of  Harvard's 
teaching  the  standard  of  intellect  and  education  l 
which  is  impressed  on  the  people  of  Boston  and  New 
England  generally.  Is  it  not  also  the  case  with  our- 
selves? Is  not  the  desire  for  elegance  and  good  taste 
observable  in  our  surroundings  in  the  city  owing  to  the 
great  intelligence  which  has  resulted  from  the  larger 
facilities  offered  in  late  years  for  higher  education; 

1  He  was  once  asked  what  in  his  opinion  was  the  finest  product  of 
modern  civilization.   His  reply  was  "a  well-educated  American." 

149 


Lord  Strathcona 

and  that  especially  by  McGill?  Regarding  those  who 
have  filled  the  chair  before  me, —  humbly  following 
their  example,  —  I  will  endeavour  to  act  to  the  best  of 
my  ability,  whilst  it  may  be  permitted  me  to  fill  this 
honourable  position. 

We  must  not  only  continue  the  prosperity  of  the 
university,  but  raise  it  to  a  higher  and  yet  higher  posi- 
tion among  schools  of  learning.  We  must  still  progress. 
We  have  many  tangible  proofs  of  the  interest  taken  in 
the  prosperity  of  the  university.  The  liberality  of  the 
friends  of  the  institution,  as  we  all  know,  has  been  very 
great,  and  the  issue  has  been  in  every  way  satisfactory 
in  the  large  number  of  educated  men  and  women  sent 
forth  from  the  university.  But  to  enable  it  to  continue 
and  render  more  efficient  the  means  for  this  great  work, 
the  Governors  are  now  desirous  of  further  endow- 
ments. Let  us  all  do  our  best  to  provide  for,  if  possi- 
ble, making  the  college  more  efficient  than  in  the  past. 
It  has  much  to  contend  with  at  the  present  moment. 
We  know  that  we  are  a  comparatively  small  minority 
of  English-speaking  people  in  this  Province,  and  we 
know  that  whilst  McGill  and  its  faculty  of  law  had 
up  to  quite  recently  the  field  for  itself  entirely,  things 
are  now  altogether  different.  Now  there  is  another 
faculty  of  law  in  another  university.  We  wish  them 
God-speed ;  but  at  the  same  time  we  do  not  wish  that 
McGill  in  this  respect  should  take  other  than  a  fore- 
most place.  We  desire  that  it  should  in  no  sense  be 
second  to  any  other  law  school  or  faculty  in  the  Domin- 
ion. The  Civil  Code  of  Quebec  is  entirely  different  to 
that  of  the  other  Provinces  df  the  Dominion.  There  is 
not  that  inducement  to  those  outside  of  Montreal  or 
this  Province  to  come  here  to  be  instructed  by  the 
faculty  of  law;  so  that  it  is  most  essential,  indeed,  that 

150 


Chancellor's  Address 

the  citizens  should  give  that  support  to  the  school 
without  which  it  cannot  possibly  have  that  vitality 
which  it  should  have  to  be  in  every  way  efficient.  Of 
this  the  members  of  the  Board  are  so  fully  convinced 
that  they  are  endeavouring  to  provide  an  endowment 
for  the  faculty  of  at  least  one  chair  to  begin  with,  and 
they  hope  to  have  one  or  two  additional  chairs.  There 
is  also  the  faculty  of  medicine,  which  holds  its  head 
high  among  the  schools,  not  only  of  this  continent  but 
of  Europe,  and  in  view  of  the  great  advances  made  in 
science,  medicine,  and  surgery  within  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century,  I  am  sure  you  wish  that  McGill  should 
hold  its  own;  but  this  will  be  impossible  without  the 
liberal  aid  of  those  of  the  community. 

We  do  not  mean  that  all  is  to  be  done  to-day  or  to- 
morrow, but  it  is  well  we  should  keep  them  in  view 
and  that  a  helping  hand  should  be  given  us  as  soon  as 
possible.  There  is  also  required,  as  soon  as  it  can  be 
had,  an  addition  to  the  general  funds  of  the  university 
applicable  to  all  professorship  endowments  and  for 
college  purposes.  Something  is  also  required  to  be 
done  for  the  department l  for  women.  Some  of  us  had 
hoped  that  by  this  time  there  would  have  been  such  a 
college  in  existence,  but  from  certain  causes  it  has  not 
been  brought  about.  However,  I  think,  we  may  feel 
assured  that  before  the  lady  undergraduates  who  join 
this  year  are  ready  to  leave  the  college  they  will  have 
a  habitat  of  their  own.  The  progress  which  has  been 
made  in  education,  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  in 
the  other  professions  throughout  the  world,  is  so  very 
great  that  to  keep  pace  with  it  we  must  bestir  ourselves 
in  every  possible  way. 

1  This  had  already  been  christened  the  "Donalda  Department" 
in  his  honour.  Mme.  Donalda,  the  cantatrice,  was  one  of  the 
graduates. 

151 


Lord  Strathcona 

We  see  how  another  university  here,  that  of  Laval, 
is  strengthening  itself  in  every  way.  We  find  no  fault 
with  that.  There  is  a  union  of  certain  schools  here,  and 
union  we  know  is  strength,  and  it  is  well  that  in  a  good 
cause  there  should  be  union  and  that  there  should  be 
strength.  But  whilst  we  desire  that  they  should  go  on 
and  prosper,  we  must  not  forget  that  it  is  our  first  duty 
to  look  to  ourselves,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  each 
of  us  will  do  his  part  to  the  best  of  his  ability  to  see 
and  secure  that  McGill  shall  hold  its  place  among  the 
schools  not  only  of  this  Province,  but  of  the  Dominion 
as  one  which  will  be  able  to  send  forth  men  and  women 
who  will  be  a  credit  to  their  Alma  Mater  and  will  take 
their  part  efficiently  to  advance  the  best  interests  of 
the  whole  community. 

On  the  6th  June,  1891,  Sir  John  Macdonald 
passed  away. 


To  the  Marquess  of  Lome 

June  Qth,  1891. 

The  death  of  Sir  John  Macdonald  not  only  removes 
the  greatest  man  in  Canada  but  for  whom  the  confed- 
eration of  these  Provinces  might  never  have  been 
achieved,  but  it  takes  away  the  source  of  patriotic 
inspiration  of  our  best  men.  I  was  late  in  entering 
political  life,  but  I  at  once,  as  if  I  had  been  a  much 
younger  man,  enrolled  myself  under  his  banner  and 
regret  nothing  so  much  as  the  temporary  estrangement 
which  circumstances  unhappily  brought  about.  Not- 
withstanding this,  I  never  once  ceased  to  hold  him  in 
regard  and  was  truly  rejoiced  when  it  became  possible 
for  me  to  return  openly  to  my  allegiance. 

152 


A  Ministerial  Crisis 

As  Governor-General  Lord  Stanley  of  Preston 
(afterwards  Earl  of  Derby)  was  succeeded  by  the 
Earl  of  Aberdeen. 


To  Sir  William  Butler 

As  to  Lord  Aberdeen's  appointment  we  can  only 
hope  for  the  best.  We  have  so  far  been  especially  fa- 
voured by  Providence  in  the  matter  of  Governors- 
General.  In  this  case  the  fact  of  Lord  Aberdeen's  being 
a  great  favourite  with  Mr.  Gladstone  will  not  predis- 
pose many  in  his  favour;  but  I  believe  he  is  earnest  and 
industrious  and  a  Scotsman  of  rank  and  lineage,  which 
in  itself  signifies  a  great  deal.  Then,  as  I  need  hardly 
remind  you,  there  is  her  ladyship ! 

In  the  Canadian  political  world  affairs  were 
growing  troublous.  Sir  John  Thompson's  death  at 
the  close  of  1894  had  greatly  shaken  the  Conserva- 
tives. Both  the  party  and  the  country  were  restive 
under  the  Premiership  of  Sir  Mackenzie  Bowell, 
and  in  January,  1896,  an  embarrassing  upheaval 
came. 

Seven  Ministers  handed  in  their  resignations  to 
Sir  Mackenzie  Bowell.  The  truth  is,  the  Prime 
Minister  was  hardly  able  to  cope  with  the  situation, 
and  there  was  a  general  demand  that  Sir  Charles 
Tupper,  who  then  filled  the  position  of  High  Com- 
missioner in  London,  be  summoned  back  to  lead  the 
party.  Parliament  met  on  the  yth  of  the  month 
when  the  Honourable  George  E.  Foster  explained  the 
reasons  which  had  induced  him  and  his  colleagues 
to  resign.  It  was  "from  no  feeling  of  personal  dis- 

153 


Lord  Strathcona 

like  or  personal  ambition,  but  has  been  solely  dic- 
tated by  our  wish  to  sink  all  minor  consideration 
and  conserve  the  party  and  the  country." 

In  other  words,  the  wholesale  resignations  were 
to  pave  the  way  for  the  prorogation  of  a  Govern- 
ment whose  Premier  could  not  command  the  con- 
fidence of  all  his  colleagues. 

Under  the  circumstances  and  there  being  in  truth 
no  Government,  none  were  surprised  to  learn  of 
Sir  Mackenzie  Bowell's  decision  to  resign.  It  was 
then  that  a  new  difficulty  appeared  —  Lord  Aber- 
deen, the  Governor-General,  refused  to  accept  the 
Premier's  resignation.  No  consideration  had  been 
given  to  the  Speech  from  the  Throne,  and  affairs  of 
administration  were  generally  in  such  a  state  as  to 
demand  a  further  effort  to  reconstruct  the  Ministry. 
The  effort  was  made,  and  on  Sir  Charles  Tupper 
consenting  to  enter  the  Cabinet  as  President  of  the 
Privy  Council  the  recalcitrant  Ministers  returned. 

Thus  ended  a  nine  days'  wonder.  Its  chief  inter- 
est for  us  now  is  in  the  narrowness  by  which  Sir 
Donald  Smith  escaped  being  drawn  into  the  arena. 
An  influential  section  of  the  party  desired  that  he 
assume  the  leadership  of  the  party. 

"There  is  one  man,  and  one  man  alone,"  said  a 
member,1  "who  can  save  the  Liberal-Conservative 
Party  from  falling  to  pieces,  and  also  who  can  com- 
mand the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  whole 
country,  and  that  is  Sir  Donald  A.  Smith." 

The  member  for  Montreal  West  was  sounded. 
He  shrank  from  the  proposal.   "I  have  no  claim," 
1  Colonel  Hughes,  M.P. 
154 


Manitoba  Schools  Question 

he  wrote,  "while  such  a  statesman  as  Sir  Charles 
Tupper  is  alive  and  active,  and  prepared  to  assume 
the  burden  should  the  latter  prove  too  great  for  Sir 
Mackenzie  Bowell." 

No  sooner  was  the  internal  division  healed  than 
an  affair  of  magnitude  came  to  put  the  statesman- 
ship of  the  Government  to  a  severe  test.  The  seem- 
ingly eternal  question  of  race  and  religion  had 
reached  an  acute  stage  in  Manitoba.  In  an  empire 
such  as  ours  it  is  always  present;  it  is  the  problem 
of  good  citizenship  to  see  that  it  never  engenders 
bitterness  and  animosity  dangerous  to  the  State.1 

The  French  Roman  Catholic  population  of  Man- 
itoba demanded  separate  schools  where  their  chil- 
dren should  be  taught  their  own  language  and 
religion.  The  Manitoba  Legislature  opposed  this 
demand  and  passed  an  act  abolishing  denomina- 
tional schools. 

In  May,  1894,  tne  cardinals,  archbishops,  and 
bishops  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  petitioned 
the  Governor-General  in  Council  to  disallow  the 
Manitoba  School  Act  of  1894.  By  Order  in  Council 
of  26th  July,  1894,  the  Privy  Council  recommended 
that  the  petition  should  be  transmitted  to  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  Manitoba,  and  expressed 

1  Sir  Donald  once  said  to  Mr.  Wilson-Smith,  K.C. ; "  My  own  view 
is  that  the  less  said  about  race  and  religion  in  Canada  the  better.  In 
Montreal  public  opinion  is  always  in  a  highly  combustible  state  and 
any  chance  firebrand  may  set  us  all  in  a  blaze.  The  French-Cana- 
dians are  very  sensitive  and  if  we  cannot  praise  them,  we  at  least 
must  be  blind  to  their  occasional  shortcomings.  It  is  all  very  artifi- 
cial, but  it  is  only  by  means  of  such  a  modus  vivendi  that  harmony 
can  be  secured  at  all." 

155 


Lord  Strathcona 

the  hope  that  the  Legislature  of  that  Province 
should  take  steps  to  remove  the  grievances  com- 
plained of  in  the  petition. 

Again,  by  Order  in  Council  of  July  27,  1895,  the 
Dominion  Government  invited  the  Manitoba  Gov- 
ernment to  enter  into  friendly  negotiations  in 
order  to  ascertain  how  far  the  latter  were  prepared 
to  go  in  meeting  the  wishes  of  the  minority,  so  that 
the  Dominion  might,  if  possible,  be  relieved  from 
the  duty  of  intervening.  The  Provincial  authorities 
paid  no  attention  to  the  invitation,  and  it  was 
publicly  and  triumphantly  declared  that  they  had 
no  intention  of  helping  the  Federal  Government 
out  of  a  difficulty. 

Instantly,  the  Provincial  authorities,  led  by  the 
Honourable  Thomas  Greenway,  the  Premier,  were 
up  in  arms  and  flouted  the  Order  in  Council.  The 
Remedial  Bill  was  introduced  soon  after  Parlia- 
ment met.  It  sought  to  restore  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  minority  in  Manitoba  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges in  regard  to  the  education  of  their  children, 
of  which  they  were  deprived  by  the  Provincial  leg- 
islation of  1890,  and  which  the  judgment  of  the 
Judicial  Committee  of  the  Imperial  Privy  Council 
declared  Parliament  had  the  power  to  restore.  It 
professed,  also,  to  interfere  as  little  as  possible  with 
the  functions  of  the  Legislature  and  Government 
of  Manitoba.  The  nature  of  the  measure  was  such, 
however,  that  almost  every  clause  of  it  dealt  with 
acts  that  the  constitutional  law  meant  to  be  per- 
formed under  authority  of  Provincial  legislation, 
that  are,  therefore,  best  so  performed,  and  that 

156 


The  Remedial  Bill 

would  continue  to  be  performed  in  Manitoba  if  the 
religious  majority  in  that  Province  had  held  the 
spirit  of  the  Constitution  in  the  same  respect  as  it 
had  been  held  by  the  religious  majorities  of  Quebec 
and  Ontario.  The  task  of  the  Government  was 
additionally  unpleasant,  in  that  the  bill,  if  passed 
into  an  Act  of  Parliament,  would  probably  fail  to 
effect  its  purpose.  It  had  to  count  on  the  good-will 
of  the  people  and  Legislature  of  Manitoba  for  so 
much,  that,  if  the  good-will  were  withheld,  the 
Roman  Catholic  minority  would  not  enjoy  the  full 
benefits  of  the  provision  Parliament,  when  it  estab- 
lished the  Province,  destined  them  to  enjoy.  The 
financial  side  bristled  with  difficulties.  The  bill 
provided  that  the  municipal  authorities  should 
collect  and  pay  to  the  trustees  of  the  separate 
schools,  to  be  established,  all  local  school  taxes 
levied  upon  consenting  Roman  Catholic  rate- 
payers. In  1894  the  total  of  such  taxes  in  Manitoba 
amounted  to  $354,963.  They  were  supplemented 
by  grants  by  the  Legislature  of  the  Province  to  the 
extent  of  $101,013.  Nearly  a  third  of  the  school 
revenue  from  taxation,  therefore,  came  out  of  the 
Provincial  Treasury. 

A  Remedial  Bill,  following  the  lines  of  the 
Imperial  Privy  Council  decision,  declared  that 
the  religious  minority  should  have  a  right  to 
share  in  this ;  but  it  was  clearly  impossible  for  Par- 
liament to  dictate  to  the  Legislature  of  a  Province 
how  or  to  whom  it  shall  distribute  its  revenue.  If 
the  Legislature  of  Manitoba  declined  to  pay  any 
heed  to  the  provisions  of  the  Remedial  Bill  in  this 

157 


Lord  Strathcona 

particular,  the  Roman  Catholics  would  have  to 
depend  on  the  local  assessments  alone  for  means  to 
keep  their  schools  in  operation.  In  poor  localities, 
and  sparsely  settled  localities  where  the  Roman 
Catholics  were  a  small  element  in  the  general  popu- 
lation, this  virtually  meant  that  there  would  be 
no  separate  schools.  In  other  words,  that  would 
happen  in  Manitoba  which  has  since  happened  in 
the  Province  of  Quebec  with  regard  to  Protestant 
schools.  The  religious  majority  would  inevitably 
crush  the  minority  out  of  existence.  Both  sides 
assumed  an  uncompromising  attitude.  Naturally 
the  clergy  and  clerical  party  of  Quebec  flew  to 
the  succour  of  their  co-religious  in  Manitoba.  The 
Orangemen  of  Ontario  responded  by  snatching  up 
the  cudgels  against  Rome  and  Papal  machinations. 
The  air  rang  with  vituperation,  and  for  several 
weeks  it  wanted  but  little  to  precipitate  a  danger- 
ous conflict. 

Meanwhile,  the  citizens  at  large  and  a  Govern- 
ment by  no  means  agreed  amongst  themselves, 
seeing  no  satisfactory  solution  of  the  difficulty, 
prayed  for  the  advent  of  a  pacificator.  And  again  a 
pacificator  appeared.  Many  considerations  tended 
to  make  Sir  Donald  Smith's  assumption  of  the  role 
the  most  appropriate  that  could  be  found  —  his 
patriarchal  age,  his  freedom  from  the  bonds  of 
party,  his  well-known  benevolence,  but  chiefly  the 
remembrance  of  his  famous  mission  of  conciliation 
to  the  North-West  a  quarter  of  a  century  before. 
Albeit,  in  this  instance,  he  was  his  own  monitor. 

This  time  circumstances  seemed  to  make  it  highly 

158 


Privately  consults  Lord  Aberdeen 

imprudent  for  the  Government  to  despatch  him  on 
a  mission  of  conciliation.  He  would  go  in  a  private 
capacity:  what  he  would  lose  in  official  status,  he 
would  make  up  for  by  his  character  and  reputation. 

There  was  a  question,  indeed,  whether  what  he 
proposed  was  politically  desirable.  It  would  not  do 
to  compromise  the  Ministry,  or  to  excite  either  the 
alarm  or  the  enmity  of  the  Opposition.  He  resolved 
to  consult  the  Governor-General,  Lord  Aberdeen, 
not  as  a  politician  or  a  member  of  Parliament,  but 
as  a  private  citizen,  anxious  to  perform  a  signal  and 
special  act  of  good  citizenship.  Advantage  was 
taken  of  an  invitation  to  luncheon  at  Rideau  Hall, 
at  which  both  Lord  Aberdeen  and  his  indefatigable 
consort  listened  to  Sir  Donald's  plan  of  mediation. 
Both  were  enthusiastic  in  their  approval. 

He  explained  afterwards :  — 

I  wish  to  say  very  distinctly  that  I  did  not  go  at  the 
instance  of  the  Government.  It  is  true  that  I  had 
the  privilege  of  communicating  with  His  Excellency 
the  Governor-General,  not  so  much  as  Her  Majesty's 
representative  here,  but  as  one,  who,  as  we  all  know, 
has  taken  a  very  warm  and  deep  interest  in  everything 
that  is  for  the  benefit  of  Canada.  Having  incidentally 
had  an  opportunity  of  speaking  of  this  very  important 
matter  of  the  Manitoba  School  Question,  His  Excel- 
lency was  good  enough  to  express  to  me  his  very  great 
desire  that  it  should  be  satisfactorily  settled  in  one  way 
or  the  other,  so  as  to  be  agreeable,  not  only  to  the 
people  of  that  Province,  but  also  to  the  people  of  the 
Dominion  as  a  whole,  desiring  it  should  be  disposed  of 
outside  altogether  of  party  politics,  for  we  know  that 

159 


Lord  Strathcona 

the  Governor-General  never  allows  himself  to  become 
a  partisan,  and  that  he  is  here  as  the  representative 
of  Her  Majesty,  to  look  equally  at  all  sides,  and  to 
discriminate  against  none.  I  myself  was  greatly  im- 
pressed with  the  view,  that  were  it  possible  to  dispose 
of  this  matter  outside  of  Parliament,  it  would  be  for 
the  general  good ;  and  I  consequently  determined  to  go 
to  Manitoba  with  the  view  of  seeing  Mr.  Greenway  and 
some  of  his  colleagues,  and  of  endeavouring  to  ascer- 
tain if  there  could  not  be  found  a  satisfactory  way  out 
of  the  difficulty.  I  may  mention  that  had  it  not  been 
for  the  fact  that,  owing  to  serious  illness,  I  was  unable 
to  leave  my  house  for  three  or  four  months,  I  certainly 
would  have  visited  Manitoba  some  time  before;  but  it 
is  never  too  late  to  attempt  to  do  what  ought  to  be 
done.  1 

He  was  at  that  time  far  from  well.  The  weather 
was  bitterly  cold  and  tempestuous  and  his  physi- 
cian, Dr.  Roddick,  had  ordered  him  to  repair  at  once 
to  the  milder  climate  of  Florida.  On  the  I5th  of 
February  his  servant  packed  his  luggage,  he  bade 
his  wife  farewell,  and  not  until  the  following  day 
did  she  or  any  of  his  friends  learn  that  instead  of 
the  sub-tropics  he  had  departed  for  the  sub-arctic. 
He  arrived  in  Winnipeg  on  the  i8th,  and  although 
he  was  careful  to  disclose  nothing  to  the  newspa- 
per representatives  concerning  his  mission,  it  was 
immediately  telegraphed  all  over  the  Dominion 
that  he  was  in  Winnipeg  for  a  definite  political 
purpose. 

Commenting  on  this  the  Montreal  Gazette  ob- 
served :  — 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  March,  1896. 
160 


Departs  for  Winnipeg 

The  statement  has  been  repeated  so  frequently,  and 
no  denial  given,  that  there  can  really  be  no  doubt  of 
its  accuracy.  And  besides,  Sir  Donald,  beyond  receiv- 
ing his  scores  of  old  personal  and  political  friends,  and 
attending  to  the  little  social  amenities  consequent 
upon  a  visit  to  his  former  home,  is  said  to  have  done 
little  else  but  interview  the  men  who  have  it  in  their 
power  to  make  any  settlement  of  the  case.  He  is 
known  to  have  spent  hours  with  Premier  Greenway 
and  His  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Boniface,1  but 
whether  there  will  be  any  practical  result  therefrom, 
time  must  be  left  to  develop.  That  Sir  Donald  is  acting 
sincerely  and  is  really  desirous  of  performing  a  service 
to  the  State  by  snatching  from  the  arena  of  public  dis- 
cussion a  brand  which,  if  left  where  it  is,  may  result 
in  disaster  to  Confederation,  can  be  pretty  generally 
taken  for  granted  by  all  who  know  him  and  understand 
his  character  and  motives. 

It  went  on  to  say:  — 

That  he  would  like,  incidentally,  to  assist  his  party, 
may  perhaps  be  true,  but  it  is  better  to  credit  him 
with  the  higher  motive.  However  much  all  Canadians 
would  like  to  see  the  question  settled,  it  is  difficult  to 
see  how  Mr.  Greenway  can  make  any  concessions  that 
would  satisfy  the  Ministry.  With  a  fresh  mandate 
from  the  people  to  stand  by  the  National  School  Sys- 
tem, no  one  would  surely  be  bold  enough  to  expect 
that  he  would  commit  political  suicide  by  sacrificing 
the  schools.  The  Government  has  all  along  professed 
to  be  most  anxious  to  administer  the  School  Act  in  the 
most  liberal  manner,  so  as  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the 
minority  as  far  as  possible,  providing  no  great  princi- 
1  The  late  Mgr.  Langevin. 
161 


Lord  Strathcona 

pies  were  sacrificed,  but  further  than  that  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  they  can  go. 

This  was  perfectly  true;  it  was,  as  Mr.  Greenway 
told  his  distinguished  visitor,  difficult  to  see  how 
they  could  go  further.  Yet  it  was  not  enough  to 
restore  peace  or  to  carry  out  the  pledge  tacitly 
made  in  1870.  Sir  Donald  told  the  House  of 
Commons  on  his  return  a  few  weeks  later:  — 

The  great  difficulty  in  which  Canada  is  at  this  time, 
and  England  as  well,  should  be  another  inducement  for 
us  to  do  justice  to  the  minority  in  Manitoba.  There 
has  been  a  promise  made,  made,  it  is  true,  to  a  few 
thousands  of  people,  who  have  been  spoken  of  here  as 
poor  half-breeds,  but  who,  on  the  whole,  I  can  assure 
you,  are  very  intelligent  men. 

He  pointed  out  that  in  1870  the  schools  were 
voluntary,  the  Roman  Catholics  had  their  own 
and  the  Protestants  had  theirs,  and  there  were 
certain  grants  of  money  given  to  each. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  then  the  governing 
body,  made  a  grant  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop, 
the  late  lamented  and  reverend  Archbishop  Tache. 
There  was  a  grant  given  to  the  one  and  to  the  other  — 
a  money  grant  as  well  as  a  grant  of  land  —  for  school 
purposes.  It  is  true  that  not  much  was  said  about 
schools  at  that  time,  but  it  was  distinctly  understood 
by  the  people  there,  and  the  promise  was  made  to 
those  people,  that  they  would  have  every  privilege,  on 
joining  Canada,  which  they  possessed  at  that  time. 
And  such  promise  I  gave  as  a  special  commissioner 
from  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  That  was  supple- 
mented by  Canada. 

162 


French-Canadian  Simplicity 

If  the  Convention  did  not  enter  minutely  and  par- 
ticularly into  the  description  of  the  separate  schools, 
it  was  because  they  thought  it  altogether  unnecessary. 
Any  convention  about  separate  schools  was  never 
dreamt  of  by  them.  They  were  a  "simple-minded  peo- 
ple." To  show  that  they  were  really  so,  and  that  they 
went  very  much  on  good  faith,  I  may  mention  how 
properties  were  conveyed  from  one  to  another.  There 
were  no  long  or  written  contracts;  all  that  was  neces- 
sary was  that  the  parties  interested  should  go  to  the 
official  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who  kept  the 
land  register,  and  mention  verbally  to  him  that  it  was 
desired  to  make  over  such  and  such  property  to  a 
particular  person  and  the  transaction  was  concluded. 
That  showed,  I  think,  that  they  were  "  simple-minded," 
and  that  they  had  an  idea,  a  belief,  that  when  their 
word  was  pledged,  it  was  as  good  as  all  the  deeds  that 
could  be  written.  So  it  was  with  regard  to  the  prom- 
ises that  were  made  to  them  at  that  time.  They  knew 
that  they  had  their  schools,  and  they  believed  that  the 
promises  would  be  well  and  faithfully  kept,  and  they 
did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  have  anything  of  a  more 
binding  character  with  regard  to  them.1 

This  is  apparent,  I  think,  from  what  took  place  in 
the  Legislature  of  Manitoba  in  1871,  when  the  School 
Law  was  passed.  It  may  not  be  known  to  a  great 
many  of  the  members  here  that  many  of  those  who 
composed  the  Legislature  of  that  time  were  members 
of  this  very  Convention,  and  in  deciding  that  there 
should  be  separate  schools,  they  were  looking  to  what 
had  passed  in  this  Convention;  they  had  it  fresh  in  their 
minds.  Therefore,  I  certainly  think  that  the  people  of 
Red  River,  then  the  majority,  now  the  minority,  are 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  House  of  Commons,  March,  1896. 
163 


Lord  Strathcona 

entitled  to  all  the  privileges  that  are  given  to  the  major- 
ity at  the  present  day.  I  think  that  in  one  way  or  an- 
other we  should  insist  that  they  have  full  justice,  and 
that  whether  in  the  form  of  separate  schools,  or  in  some 
other  way,  still,  that  justice  shall  be  done,  and  that 
faith  shall  be  kept  with  those  people. 

Sir  Donald  returned  to  Ottawa  during  the  last 
1  days  of  February.  He  was  by  this  time  so  hardened 
to  the  amenities  of  political  life  —  to  having  base 
motives  imputed  to  his  most  straightforward  ac- 
tions —  that  he  was  hardly  surprised  when  one 
or  two  journals  hinted  that  in  his  self-appointed 
mission  to  Manitoba,  he  had  not  been  altogether 
.  disinterested. 

It  has  been  insinuated  that,  if  I  did  go  to  Mani- 
toba, ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  settling 
this  vexed  question,  it  was  no  philanthropic  idea  I  had 
in  my  head,  but  that  it  was  for  the  advantage  of  a  cer- 
tain corporation  with  which  I  happened  to  be  con- 
nected, namely,  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Com- 
pany. It  was  said  that  there  was  a  question  coming 
up  of  a  demand  on  the  Government,  a  request  to  the 
Government,  concerning  the  sale  of  a  certain  portion 
of  the  company's  lands.  I  believe  it  is  said  that  the 
sum  was  twenty  or  twenty-four  millions  —  it  really 
does  not  signify  for  a  few  millions  nowadays  —  a  few 
millions,  a  dozen  millions,  more  or  less,  does  not  mat- 
ter. So  it  was  said  that  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
had  approached  the  Government  with  a  view  of  selling 
to  them  their  lands.  The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
company  have  not  approached  and  have  no  thought  of 
approaching  the  Government  with  any  idea  of  selling 
'any  of  their  lands,  and  the  rumour  is  entirely  without 

164 


Government's  Awkward  Predicament 

foundation  in  truth.  But  that  consideration  will  per- 
haps influence  the  conduct  of  those  who  circulate  such 
aspersions. 

A  few  days  after  he  had  left  Winnipeg  one  result 
of  his  mission  was  announced.  Mr.  Clifford  Sifton, 
the  Attorney-General,  moved  in  the  Provincial 
Legislature,  on  February  25  — 

that  a  committee  of  the  whole  House  should  consider 
a  resolution  protesting  against  Federal  interference, 
inviting  an  enquiry  and  protesting  that  coercive  legis- 
lation would  not  accomplish  the  relief  of  the  minority, 
but  would  prove  disappointing,  and  should  be  resisted. 
The  motion  proceeded  as  follows:  In  amending  the 
School  Law  from  time  to  time,  and  in  administering 
the  school  system,  it  has  been  our  earnest  desire  to 
remedy  any  well-founded  grievance,  and  remove  any 
appearance  of  inequality  or  injustice  brought  to  our 
notice,  and  to  consider  any  complaint  in  a  spirit  of  fair- 
ness and  conciliation. 

Sir  Donald  consulted  with  the  Prime  Minister 
and  Sir  Charles  Tupper  as  to  the  conduct  of  the 
Remedial  Bill.  It  was  agreed  that  the  Government 
was  in  an  awkward  predicament.  Having  estab- 
lished personal  relations  with  Mr.  Greenway  and 
his  colleagues,  could  not  Sir  Donald  induce  them  to 
come  to  Ottawa?  No  time  was  to  be  lost,  and 
the  member  for  Montreal  West  prepared  a  lengthy 
telegram,  in  which  he  appealed  to  the  Liberal 
leaders  in  Manitoba  to  cast  politics  to  the  winds 
and  come  to  Ottawa  in  the  character  of  patriots. 

To  this  appeal  a  brief  reply  was  forthcoming :  — 

165 


Lord  Strathcona 

To  Sir  D.  A.  Smith 

WINNIPEG,  2d  March,  1896. 

Your  telegram  has  received  the  most  careful  consid- 
eration of  myself  and  colleagues.  While  fully  appre- 
ciating all  you  say,  it  is  quite  clear  to  us  that  we  can 
only  proceed  to  Ottawa  for  the  purpose  of  holding  a 
conference  upon  the  official  invitation  of  the  Dominion 
Government.  I  fully  appreciate  your  kind  offices  in  this 
matter.  GREENWAY. 

But  the  Bowell  Ministry  were  not  inclined  to 
commit  themselves.  The  Opposition,  led  by  Mr. 
Wilfrid  Laurier,  were  pressing  them  hard  and  the 
sentiment  of  the  country  was  showing  plainly 
against  them. 

The  debate  began  and  was  continued  with  much 
heat  for  many  days.  On  the  I9th  of  March,  Sir 
Donald  arose  to  speak. 

A  journalist  at  the  time  wrote:  — 

The  feature  of  the  afternoon's  debates  was  the 
speech  of  Sir  Donald  Smith.  The  House,  jaded  after 
its  long  vigil,  was  wearily  waiting  for  six  o'clock  in  the 
hope  of  a  short  adjournment.  It  appeared  that  nothing 
could  animate  it  except  dinner.  Who  might  or  might 
not  speak  next  had  ceased  to  be  a  matter  of  interest. 
Even  the  eloquence  of  a  Laurier  or  a  Foster  could 
scarcely  have  filled  the  vacant  seats  and  thrilled  the 
tired  members. 

But  as  Disraeli  says:  "The  unexpected  always  hap- 
pens." When  the  gallant  Comptroller  of  Inland  Rev- 
enue resumed  his  seat,  an  unanticipated  form  rose  in 
its  place  to  address  the  House.  It  was  the  venerable 

166 


Speech  in  Parliament 

figure  of  the  member  for  Montreal  West,  that,  from  the 
front  row  of  the  Conservative  benches,  apologized  to 
Mr.  Speaker  for  claiming  the  attention  of  the  Chamber. 

It  had  been  a  subject  of  much  speculation  whether 
Sir  Donald  would  take  part  in  the  debate.  His  inti- 
mate association  with  the  events  which  led  up  to  the 
admission  of  Manitoba  in  the  Canadian  Confederacy, 
his  recent  visit  to  Winnipeg,  again  to  negotiate  with 
the  people  of  Red  River  as  a  pacificator,  were  guaran- 
tees that  no  man  more  than  he  could  enlighten  Parlia- 
ment on  the  vexed  subject  under  discussion. 

No  sooner  had  the  news  spread  to  the  lobbies,  that 
Sir  Donald  Smith  had  the  floor,  than  the  members 
began  to  pour  into  the  almost  deserted  Chamber. 
Scarcely  could  the  ringing  of  the  division  bell  have 
quicker  filled  the  vacant  benches,  and  as  the  voice  of 
the  patriarchal  member  gained  in  power  with  the 
warming  of  the  speaker  to  the  subject  of  his  speech,  so 
did  the  attention  of  the  House  become  enchained  in 
rapt  interest. 

The  incident  was  felt  to  be  historical.  Sir  Donald 
rarely  addressed  the  House.  On  this  occasion  he  spoke 
as  a  voice  from  the  past  as  he  detailed  in  simple,  elo- 
quent language  the  events  of  1870,  in  which  he  had 
been  so  prominent  an  actor;  the  House  felt  that  his- 
tory had  become  incarnate,  and  was  relating  itself  in 
living  tongue.  And  when,  coming  to  contemporary 
times,  the  pacificator  of  Red  River  in  the  past  told  of 
his  recent  negotiations  to  secure  the  elimination  of 
Manitoba's  schools  question  as  a  disturbing  force  in 
the  politics  of  the  present,  and  appealed  to  all  parties 
of  the  country  to  pay  homage  to  the  Golden  Rule,  and 
to  insure  the  consummation  of  his  efforts,  the  House 
was  visibly  affected. 

167 


Lord  Strathcona 

From  every  quarter  of  the  Chamber  came  long  ap- 
plause, as  the  white-haired  bearer  of  the  olive  branch 
resumed  his  seat,  an  appropriate  conclusion  to  a 
unique  and  long-to-be-remembered  Parliamentary 
episode.1 

It  is  impossible  to  do  more  here  than  to  indicate 
the  outlines  of  a  lengthy  speech,  several  extracts 
from  which  have  already  been  given.  Referring  to 
his  visit  to  Winnipeg  he  said :  — 

I  was  met  by  Mr.  Greenway  and  his  colleagues  in  a 
manner  that  led  me  to  believe  that  they  had  an  honest 
desire  to  do  what  was  right  in  the  matter.  It  is  only 
justice  to  those  gentlemen  to  say  that  they  to  me  ap- 
peared to  be  most  anxious  to  have  the  matter  settled 
so  as  to  do  substantial  justice  to  the  minority,  as  well 
as  to  the  majority.  I  was  permitted  confidentially  to 
represent  this  to  the  Government  here,  and  I  feel  sure 
that  it  is  their  earnest  desire  to  exhaust  all  means 
within  their  power  to  have  justice  done  in  the  way  in 
which  I  believe  it  can  best  be  done,  and  that  is  through 
the  local  Government.  True,  it  is  within  the  power  of 
this  Parliament  to  pass  a  Remedial  Bill,  and  if  there  is 
no  other  way  of  attaining  the  end  which  we  are  all  of 
opinion  ought  to  be  accomplished,  that  of  having  equal 
justice  done  to  the  minority  and  to  the  majority,  if 
after  every  means  of  obtaining  that,  from  what  I  may 
be  permitted  to  call  the  legitimate  source,  is  exhausted, 
and  it  is  found  impossible  to  get  justice  for  the  minor- 
ity, then  I  consider  that  the  responsibility  rests  with 
this  Parliament,  and  that  this  Parliament  ought  to 
apply  a  remedy.  I  trust,  I  have  every  confidence, 
honourable  gentlemen  opposite  will  all  feel  that  it  is 
1  Manitoba  Free  Press,  March  20,  1896. 
1 68 


The  Golden  Rule 

their  duty,  as  well  as  the  duty  of  those  on  this  side  of 
the  House,  to  assist  in  every  possible  way  to  bring 
about  a  settlement.  I  cannot  see  myself  that  there  is 
any  necessity  for  a  commission  to  enquire  into  well- 
known  facts  and  circumstances,  but  I  do  trust  and 
desire  that  there  may  be,  at  any  rate,  a  personal  rap- 
prochement of  the  two  Governments,  that  there  shall 
be  a  conference.  I  am  afraid,  while  I  am  sure  many 
efforts  in  the  right  direction  have  been  made  by  the 
Ministry  to  effect  what  they  believe  would  be  a  satis- 
factory solution  of  this  matter,  they  have  not  person- 
ally come  together  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  able  to  ex- 
change one  another's  views,  wishes,  and  ideas,  and  so 
have  an  opportunity  of  deciding  in  that  way  what  can 
best  be  done  under  the  circumstances.  I  will -say  to 
the  leader  of  the  Opposition,  and  to  honourable  gentle- 
men on  both  sides  of  this  House,  that  I  trust  they  will 
join  heartily  and  cordially  together,  and  that  each  will, 
if  possible,  endeavour  to  outdo  the  other  in  his  desire 
and  in  his  determination  to  do  justice  to  all  classes  in 
Manitoba,  and  to  do  it  in  the  best  way.  This  question 
must  be  taken  out  altogether  from  the  arena  of  party 
politics.  Let  us  all  look  only  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  country.  If  in  the  end  it  is  found  that  justice  —  a 
proper  measure  of  justice  —  cannot  be  obtained  from 
the  Province  of  Manitoba,  it  will  then  be  the  right  and 
ought  to  be  the  duty  of  this  House  to  intervene. 

I  heard  a  much-respected  prelate  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  one  of  the  highest  authorities  in  that  Church, 
say,  that,  while  his  own  people  were,  perhaps,  in  favour 
of  separate  schools,  still,  he  did  not  desire  to  see  these 
schools  administered  by  a  dual  government,  and  he 
would  desire  and  wish,  above  all  things,  that  such  ar- 
rangements were  made  that  the  schools  of  the  Catholics 

169 


Lord  Strathcona 

and  of  the  Protestants  should  be  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  local  Government.  It  is  my  earnest  wish 
and  solicitude  that  there  shall  be  no  religious  feuds  in 
this  country,  that  neighbours  shall  be  neighbours, 
indeed,  and  that  they  will  do  to  others  that  which 
they  desire  should  be  done  to  themselves.  That  is 
the  Golden  Rule. 

He  closed  his  speech  by  urging  the  House  to  pass 
the  Government's  Remedial  Bill:  — 

Once  more  I  would  express  the  earnest  hope  that 
this  school  question  may  be  settled,  and  settled  to  the 
satisfaction,  not  only  of  this  House,  but  of  the  whole 
country.  I  should  like,  sir,  to  see  this  Remedial  Bill 
pass  to  its  second  reading  by  acclamation.  But  by  vot- 
ing for  the  second  reading  of  the  Bill  gentlemen  are  not 
necessarily  committed  to  vote  for  the  third  reading  of 
the  Bill.  If  there  should  be  a  conference  in  the  mean 
time  —  and  I  trust  that  there  may  be  one  —  I  am  so 
hopeful  of  the  result  of  that  conference  that  I  do  trust 
that  there  will  be  no  Remedial  Bill  required  from  this 
House. 

It  was,  of  course,  not  to  be  expected  that  the 
disclosure  of  a  preliminary  interview  with  the 
Governor-General  would  be  overlooked  by  mem- 
bers of  the  Opposition.  Accordingly  the  member 
for  North  Simcoe  (Mr.  McCarthy)  asked  the 
Government  the  question :  — 

Was  Sir  Donald  Smith  authorized  on  behalf  of  the 
Government  to  negotiate  with  the  Premier  or  Admin- 
istration of  the  Province  of  Manitoba  in  reference  to 
or  on  the  subject  of  the  School  law  of  that  Province? 

170 


Official  Action  Criticized 

To  which  Sir  Charles  Tupper  replied  instantly  in 
the  negative. 

On  receiving  this  answer,  Mr.  Joseph  Martin, 
whose  subsequent  political  career  was  so  chequered, 
leapt  to  his  feet. 

Why  [he  exclaimed]  was  it  necessary  for  His  Excel- 
lency the  Governor-General  to  call  in  another  adviser? 
We  have  got  seventeen  or  eighteen  Ministers  of  the 
Crown,  and  none  of  them  appeared  to  have  taken  this 
matter  in  hand,  and  they  advised  His  Excellency  to 
apply  to  the  honourable  member  for  Montreal  West, 
who  was  credited  with  possessing  diplomatic  qualities, 
and  a  talent  for  negotiation,  and  who  had  contributed 
very  largely  to  settle  a  previous  trouble  in  Manitoba, 
many  years  ago.  So  the  Government  applied  in  this 
emergency  for  the  help  of  the  honourable  member  for 
Montreal  West.  He  went  to  Winnipeg.  More  than 
that,  it  was  announced  in  all  the  newspapers  that  the 
honourable  gentleman  had  gone  there  for  the  purpose 
of  holding  a  conference  with  the  Manitoban  Govern- 
ment. 

Surely  [continued  this  speaker]  it  was  most  unfor- 
tunate that  any  public  act  of  the  Government  should 
be  communicated  to  this  House,  not  by  His  Excel- 
lency's advisers  who  are  responsible  to  this  House  for 
the  public  acts  of  the  Government,  but  by  a  private 
member  of  the  House.  Surely  that  shows  what  little 
appreciation  the  Government  has  had  of  their  respon- 
sibility in  this  connection,  that  they  should  allow  a 
public  act  of  Government,  for  which  now  they  assume, 
after  being  practically  forced  to  assume  after  the  dis- 
cussion in  this  House,  full  responsibility,  to  be  so 
brought  forward.1 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  March  21,  1896. 
171 


Lord  Strathcona 

But  the  future  British  Columbian  Premier  and 
British  member  of  Parliament  and  his  friends  got 
scant  sympathy  from  either  the  House  or  the 
country.  The  press  generally  was  agreed  that  Sir 
Donald  had  performed  a  highly  patriotic  action. 
In  the  House  of  Commons  one  member  said: l 

We  all  appreciate  the  motive  which  induced  him  to 
assist  the  Government  in  this  very  difficult  question; 
we  all  appreciate  the  care  with  which  he  has  conducted 
a  series  of  very  delicate  negotiations. 

Another  (Mr.  Weldon)  stated :  — 

I  thank  the  member  for  Montreal  West  for  his 
action.  He  has  acted  the  part  of  a  patriot. 

Concerning  the  action  of  Lord  Aberdeen,  there 
was  much  approval  of  the  opinion  expressed  by 
Mr.  Nicholas  Flood  Davin,  M.P.,  who  said:- 

Sir,  I  do  not  take  the  view  of  the  position  in  our  con- 
stitution of  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  or  her  representa- 
tive in  Canada,  the  Governor-General,  taken  by  some 
honourable  members  in  this  House.  If  such  view  were 
correct  the  Governor-General  would  be  reduced  to  a 
position  of  almost  an  automaton,  even  in  his  private 
life.  Sir,  there  is  nothing  to  prohibit  a  Governor- 
General,  who  takes  a  deep  interest  in  Canadian  affairs, 
from  conversing  with  any  member  of  this  House.  I 
remember  that  Lord  Dufferin  was  accustomed  to  meet 
in  his  office  members  of  both  parties  and  discuss  politi- 
cal questions  with  them.  How  would  it  be  possible  for 
a  man  in  his  august  position  fully  to  discharge  his  du- 
ties unless,  by  conversation  with  eminent  men,  he  made 
himself  familiar  with  the  events  of  the  day?  And  what 

1  Mr.  Flint. 
172 


A  Commission  appointed 

would  be  the  object  of  such  communications  unless 
he  were  free,  not  to  suggest  policies  or  advise  schemes 
of  political  action,  but  to  express  his  opinion  on  the 
events  of  the  day,  and  on  great  questions  such  as  this? 
Why,  sir,  you  limit  greatly  the  usefulness  of  those 
eminent  men  who,  from  time  to  time,  come  here  as 
Governors-General  if  you  take  any  such  miserable 
view  of  their  position  as  has  been  taken  by  some  hon- 
ourable gentlemen  of  this  House. 

In  a  few  days  the  Cabinet  met  and  resolved  that 
if  the  mountain  Manitoba  would  not  come  to 
Mahomet,  then  Mahomet  should  travel  to  Manitoba. 
Sir  Donald's  suggestion  of  a  private  conference  was 
adopted  and  a  commission  was  issued  to  the 
Honourable  Mr.  Dickey,  Minister  of  Justice,  Senator 
Desjardins,  Minister  of  Militia,  and  Sir  Donald 
Smith,  to  proceed  to  Winnipeg  to  negotiate  with 
the  Manitoba  Government  with  a  view  to  a  com- 
promise. In  the  interval  Parliament  continued  the 
consideration  of  the  Bill  restoring  denominational 
schools  to  the  Catholics  of  Manitoba. 

The  political  situation  derived  an  additional 
piquancy  from  the  fact  that  the  Canadian  Liberal 
Opposition  was  already  inclined  to  support  the 
action  of  the  Liberal  Government  of  Manitoba. 
The  leader  of  the  Canadian  Opposition  was  a 
French-Canadian,  the  Honourable  Wilfrid  Laurier. 
Apart  from  its  religious  tendencies,  one  of  the 
cardinal  principles  of  Liberalism,  as  of  Democracy 
in  America,  is  the  sacredness  of  Provincial  rights  — 
of  local  autonomy.  Here  French-Canadian  Liberals 
ran  counter  to  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy. 

173 


Lord  Strathcona 

In  vain  the  Church  thundered  its  anathemas 
from  a  thousand  puplits  —  in  vain  Mr.  Laurier  was 
warned  that  he  would  alienate  the  majority  in 
Quebec  from  his  party.  He  was  unmoved  by  either 
threats  or  predictions  of  political  disaster.  It  was 
alleged  that  his  own  personal  lukewarmness  in  the 
matter  of  religion  assisted  to  render  him  compla- 
cent, while  "  thousands  of  his  race  and  speech  were 
slowly  being  morally  strangled  in  Manitoba." 

An  old  friend  of  Sir  Donald  Smith's  in  the 
North-West,  the  aged  Father  Lacombe,  wrote  to 
him:  — 

I  and  all  of  us  await  the  result  of  your  patriotic 
efforts  with  anxiety.  I  have  resolved  to  address  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Laurier.  I  enclose  a  copy  of  it.  Please  look  it 
over,  both  the  French  and  the  translation,  and  let  me 
know  if  in  your  opinion  any  expression  might  be  al- 
tered for  the  better.1 

1  The  letter  of   this  celebrated   priest-missionary  was  as  fol- 
lows: — 
MY  DEAR  SIR:  — 

In  this  critical  time  for  the  question  of  the  Manitoba  Schools, 
permit  an  aged  missionary,  to-day  representing  the  bishops  of  our 
country  in  this  cause,  which  concerns  us  all,  permit  me  to  say,  an 
appeal  to  your  spirit  of  justice,  to  entreat  you  to  accede  to  our  re- 
quest. It  is  in  the  name  of  our  bishops,  of  the  hierarchy  and  of 
Canadian  Catholics,  that  we  ask  your  party,  of  which  you  are  the 
so-worthy  chief,  to  assist  us  in  settling  this  famous  question,  and  to 
do  so  by  voting  with  the  Government  on  the  Remedial  Bill.  We  do 
not  ask  you  to  vote  for  the  Government,  but  for  the  Bill,  which  will 
render  us  our  rights;  which  Bill  will  be  presented  to  the  House  in  a 
few  days. 

I  consider,  or  rather  we  all  consider,  that  such  an  act  of  courage, 
good-will,  and  sincerity  on  your  part,  and  from  those  who  follow 
your  policy,  will  be  greatly  in  the  interests  of  your  party,  especially 
in  the  general  elections.  I  must  tell  you  that  we  cannot  accept  your 

174 


SIR    WILFRID   LAUREER,  G.C.M.G. 


Suggestions  for  Settlement 

It  may  be  asked:  What  proposal  had  Sir  Donald 
Smith,  now  arrived  in  Winnipeg  with  his  fellow- 
commissioners,  to  make  to  Mr.  Greenway  and  his 
colleagues? 

Drafted  in  Sir  Donald's  hand,  the  "Suggestions 
for  Settlement  of  Manitoba  Schools  Question"  run 
mainly  thus :  — 

Legislation  shall  be  passed  at  the  present  session  of 
the  Manitoba  Legislature  to  provide  that  in  towns  and 
villages  where  there  are  resident,  say  twenty-five 
Roman  Catholic  children  of  school  age,  and  in  cities 
where  there  are,  say  fifty  of  such  children,  the  board  of 
trustees  shall  arrange  that  such  children  shall  have  a 
school-house  or  room  for  their  own  use;  where  they 
may  be  taught  by  a  Roman  Catholic  teacher,  and 
Roman  Catholic  parents  or  guardians,  say  ten  in  num- 
ber, may  appeal  to  the  Department  of  Education  from 
any  decision  or  neglect  of  the  board  in  respect  of  its 
duties  under  this  clause,  and  the  board  shall  observe 

commission  of  enquiry  for  any  reason  and  we  will  do  the  best  to 
fight  it. 

If,  which  may  God  not  grant,  you  do  not  believe  it  to  be  your  duty 
to  accede  to  our  just  demands,  and  that  the  Government,  which  is 
anxious  to  give  us  the  promised  law,  be  beaten  and  overthrown, 
while  keeping  firm  to  the  end  of  the  struggle,  I  inform  you  with 
regret  that  the  episcopacy  like  one  man,  united  to  the  clergy,  will 
rise  to  support  those  who  may  have  fallen  to  defend  us. 

Please  pardon  my  frankness  which  leads  me  to  speak  thus.  Though 
I  am  not  your  intimate  friend,  still  I  may  say  that  we  have  been  on 
good  terms.  Always  I  deem  you  a  gentleman,  a  respectable  citizen, 
and  a  man  well  able  to  be  at  the  head  of  a  political  party.  May 
Divine  Providence  keep  up  your  courage  and  your  energy  for  the 
good  of  our  common  country. 

I  remain  sincerely  and  respectfully,  honourable  sir,  your  most 
humble  and  devoted  servant, 

A.  LACOMBE. 

175 


Lord  Strathcona 

and  carry  out  all  decisions  and  directions  of  the  De- 
partment on  any  such  appeal. 

Provision  shall  be  made  by  this  legislation  that 
schools  wherein  the  majority  of  children  are  Catholics 
should  be  exempt  from  the  requirements  of  the  regu- 
lations as  to  religious  exercises. 

That  textbooks  be  permitted  in  Catholic  schools 
such  as  will  not  offend  the  religious  views  of  the  minor- 
ity, and  which,  from  an  educational  standpoint,  shall 
be  satisfactory  to  the  advisory  board. 

Catholics  to  have  representation  on  the  advisory 
board;  Catholics  to  have  representation  on  the  board 
of  examiners  appointed  to  examine  teachers  for  certi- 
ficates. 

It  is  also  claimed  that  Catholics  should  have  assist- 
ance in  the  maintenance  of  a  normal  school  for  the  edu- 
cation of  their  teachers. 

The  existing  system  of  permits  to  non-qualified 
teachers  in  Catholic  schools  to  be  continued  for,  say, 
two  years,  to  enable  them  to  qualify,  and  then  to  be 
entirely  discontinued. 

In  all  other  respects  the  schools  at  which  Catholics 
attend  to  be  public  schools  and  subject  to  every  pro- 
vision of  the  Education  Acts  for  the  time  being  in  force 
in  Manitoba. 

A  written  agreement  having  been  arrived  at,  and  the 
necessary  legislation  passed,  the  Remedial  Bill  now 
before  Parliament  is  to  be  withdrawn,  and  any  rights 
and  privileges  which  might  be  claimed  by  the  minority, 
in  view  of  the  decision  of  the  Judicial  Committee  of 
the  Privy  Council,  shall,  during  the  due  observance  of 
such  agreement,  remain  in  abeyance,  and  be  not  fur- 
ther insisted  upon. 

MARCH  28th,  1896. 

176 


The  Remedial  Bill  dropped 

In  a  subsequent  communication  in  reply  to  one 
from  the  Manitoba  Government,  the  Commission- 
ers observed :  — 

We  must  further  draw  your  attention  to  the  flagrant 
injustice  of  the  present  system,  which  compels  Roman 
Catholics  to  contribute  to  schools  to  which  they  can- 
not conscientiously  send  their  children,  and  we  beg  to 
submit  that  this  fact  deserves  due  weight  and  consid- 
eration. It  is  to  be  further  noted  that  the  Roman 
Catholics  earnestly  desire  a  complete  system  of  sepa- 
rate schools,  on  which  only  their  own  money  would  be 
expended,  a  state  of  matters  which  would  meet  the 
observation  under  consideration,  but  which  you  decline 
to  grant.  Our  suggestion  was  to  relieve  you  from  the 
necessity  of  going  as  far  as  this.  It  is,  perhaps,  impos- 
sible to  devise  a  system  that  would  be  entirely  unob- 
jectionable theoretically  and  in  the  abstract.  We  had 
great  hope  that  what  we  suggested  would  commend 
itself  to  your  judgment  as  a  practical  scheme  doing 
reasonably  substantial  justice  to  all  classes,  and  secur- 
ing that  harmony  and  tranquillity  which  are,  perhaps 
more  than  anything  else,  to  be  desired  in  a  young  and 
growing  community,  such  as  is  now  engaged  in  the 
task  of  developing  the  resources  of  Manitoba. 

The  Remedial  Bill  as  a  practical  measure  was 
doomed.  It  was  impossible  for  the  existing  Federal 
regime  to  settle  the  question.  Only  the  advent  of 
Mr.  Laurier  to  power  paved  the  way  for  a  settle- 
ment in  the  following  year. 

The  arrangement  then  made  was  carried  in  the 
teeth  of  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy  who  ful- 
minated bitterly  against  Mr.  Laurier  and  threat- 
ened to  invoke  the  interference  of  the  Pope. 

177 


Lord  Strathcona 

Nine  months  later,  when  he  had  become  High 
Commissioner,  Sir  Donald  met  the  Canadian 
Solicitor-General,  himself  a  Roman  Catholic,  in 
London  and  undertook  to  assist  the  further  nego- 
tiations. 

To  the  Honourable  Wilfrid  Laurier 

LONDON,  6th  January,  1897. 

Mr.  Fitzpatrick  explained  to  me  his  mission  in  re- 
spect of  the  Manitoba  School  Question,  and  I  at  once 
communicated  with  Mr.  Chamberlain  regarding  an 
interview  on  the  subject,  after  explaining  to  him  very 
fully  the  position  of  the  case  and  its  gravity  as  regards 
the  well-being  and  best  interests  of  Canada,  and  assur- 
ing him  that  the  settlement  come  to  was  the  best  that 
under  the  circumstances  could  be  arrived  at,  meeting 
the  approval  of  the  great  body  of  the  English-speaking 
people  both  Catholic  and  Protestant,  and  the  greater 
part  of  those  of  French  origin. 

I  asked  Mr.  Chamberlain  if  he  would  be  good  enough 
to  extend  to  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  official  recognition  on  the 
part  of  the  British  Government  at  the  Vatican.  Mr. 
Chamberlain  regretted  his  inability  to  do  so,  as  the 
English  Government  has  no  direct  relations  with  the 
Papal  Government,  but  expressed  entire  sympathy 
with  the  object  in  view,  and  said  he  would  gladly  give 
the  Solicitor-General  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  is  understood  to  be  the  one 
British  subject  having  great  influence  with  the  Pope. 
He  at  the  same  time  suggested  securing  the  active  aid 
of  Cardinal  Vaughan. 

On  the  same  evening  of  the  same  day,  I  introduced 
Mr.  Fitzpatrick  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Colonies.  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  presented  his  case  with 

178 


Archbishop  Langevin's  Unwisdom 

clearness  and  much  ability,  Mr.  Chamberlain  handing 
him  an  introduction  to  His  Grace  of  Norfolk  and  re- 
peating the  assurance  he  had  given  me  that  he  would 
gladly  aid  in  the  matter  as  far  as  he  could. 

Later  in  the  evening,  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  and  I  dined 
with  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  (Lord  Russell  of  Killowen), 
an  old  friend  of  mine,  meeting  at  this  table  Judge 
Matthews  and  other  Catholic  gentlemen  eminent  in 
legal  circles,  as  well  as  Mr.  Edward  Blake,  M.P.,  who 
were  unanimous  in  opinion  that  every  proper  effort 
should  be  made  to  insure  that  the  Roman  Catholic 
bishops  and  clergy  of  Quebec  accept  the  settlement 
come  to  by  your  Government  on  the  School  Question. 

I  shall  only  add  that  if  in  any  way  I  can  aid  toward 
a  satisfactory  solution  of  this  vexed  question,  you  may 
count  on  my  best  efforts. 

And  again  (February  20)  he  wrote :  — 

I  trust  the  result  of  Mr.  Fitzpatrick's  efforts  both 
here  and  in  Rome  may  be  all  that  could  be  wished 
for  in  solving  the  awkward  Manitoba  question.  Any 
assistance  from  me  in  his  mission  was  most  willingly 
given.  It  cannot  be  but  that  Archbishop  Langevin  will 
soon  come  to  recognize  that  his  present  course  of  ac- 
tion is  a  most  unwise  one,  disapproved  of  as  it  is  by 
all  men  of  moderate  views. 


CHAPTER  XX 

GOVERNOR  OF  THE  HUDSON'S   BAY  COMPANY 
1889-1914 

WE  will  now  resume  the  thread  of  Sir  Donald's 
connection  with  the  affairs  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  Although,  as  the  largest  individual 
shareholder,  he  had  been  elected  Governor  in  1889, 
he  soon  came  to  realize  his  powerlessness  to  stay 
the  rapacity  of  the  shareholders  in  the  mass.  Their 
relations  with  the  wintering  partners  threatened 
the  very  life  of  the  fur-trade. 

Chief  Factor  W.  J.  Christie  to  a  fellow-officer 
BROCKVILLE,  ONT.,  isth  April,  1892. 

The  end  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  cannot  be 
far  off.  Sir  Donald  Smith  told  Chief  Factor  Camsell 
that  two  years  more  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
would  be  a  thing  of  the  past.  I  am  sorry  for  the  officers 
who  gave  a  life  service  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
and  have  not  been  able  to  save  enough  for  their  old  age. 

The  personnel  of  the  service  had  lamentably  de- 
teriorated. 

From  Factor  D.  C.  Mactavish 

CHAPLEAU,  I3th  August,  1890. 

The  trouble  is,  we  can't  get  good  men  who  under- 
stand our  business,  and  take  an  interest  in  it.  A 
young  man  has  no  inducement  to  remain  in  the  service, 

180 


The  Company's  Decline 

and  a  valuable  man  is  paid  no  better  than  a  sleepy, 
slow  fellow.  I  have  seen  new  blood  sent  out  from 
England,  and  get  higher  wages  than  I  the  first  year, 
and  three  of  them  could  not  do  my  work. 

I  have  done  all  that  I  can  to  protect  the  Bay  trade, 
but  if  I  get  abused  for  my  trouble  I  shall  not  assist 
others  who  are  not  competent  to  manage  the  charge 
they  have.  Four  Moose  Indians  came  up  this  summer 
along  with  the  opposition.  I  got  them  away  from  the 
opposition  and  sent  them  back  to  Moose.  They  were 
all  down  on who  never  could  manage  Indians. 

From  Factor  Ferdinand  Mackenzie 

STUART'S  LAKE,  February  i8th,  1893. 

Some  of  the  gentlemen  in  this  district  will  very  likely 
be  leaving  shortly  owing  to  the  scanty  allowance  given 

them  to  live  upon.    Mr. intends  leaving  next 

summer  and  there  is  some  talk  of  a  brother  of  Mr. 
coming  to  take  charge  of  Fort  George. 

Another  repeats  the  same  complaint :  — 

From  Factor  W.  H.  Adams 

There  is  no  inducement  to  young  men  to  remain 
with  the  Company  when  they  can  see  their  way  to 
better  futures  elsewhere.  There  are  now  so  many 
opportunities  for  men  of  ability  to  obtain  remunera- 
tion such  as  the  Company  will  never  pay.  During  the 
whole  of  my  service  I  could  not  fail  to  observe  that 
the  suggestions  of  their  experienced  officers  were 
systematically  ignored  by  the  Governor  and  Commit- 
tee, and  I  know  that  their  action  in  this  connection, 
in  many  instances,  conduced  to  a  petty  rather  than 

181 


Lord  Strathcona 

an  increased  energy  in  the  interests  of  the  Company's 
affairs,  resulting,  in  my  opinion,  most  detrimentally 
to  the  latter. 

Old  officers  who  had  served  the  Company  for 
several  years  were  allowed  to  die  unprovided  for. 

Factor  J.  H.  Lawson  to  a  fellow-officer 

WINNIPEG,  January  23d,  1891. 

.  .  .  Poor  Chief  Factor  Cotter's  family  are  left  in 
very  poor  circumstances,  and  without  deriving  any 
benefit  from  the  Pension  Fund.  I  do  not  quite  under- 
stand the  working  of  that  fund,  but  we  will  no  doubt 
receive  light  on  the  subject  later  on,  but  if  Cotter's 
family  are  penniless  I  do  not  see  why  they  should  not 
get  something  from  the  Reserve  Fund. 

You  will  have  heard  of  the  coming  change  in  the 
Commissionership.  We  are  all  wondering  who  will  be 
the  next  to  fill  the  position.  It  will  not  be  easy,  and 
for  the  good  of  all  concerned  I  sincerely  hope  a  good 
and  competent  man  will  get  the  appointment. 

Mr.  Wrigley  has  certainly  worked  hard  and  done 
his  best  to  carry  out  the  views  of  the  Board,  and  it  is 
to  be  regretted  that  his  reign  has  not  resulted  in  im- 
proved dividends,  either  to  the  commissioned  officers 
or  shareholders.  We  will  see  in  time  if  a  change  will 
be  to  our  benefit. 

From  Chief  Factor  Roderick  McKenzie 

MELBOURNE,  QUE.,  6th  April,  1891. 

Emoluments  are  dwindling  down  to  a  pretty  low 
figure.  Of  course  the  expense  in  purchasing  and  se- 

182 


New  Turn  of  the  Screw 

curing  the  furs  are  more  than  in  former  years.  The 
grasping  London  stockholders  saw  that  and  secured 
to  themselves  the  millions  of  money  paid  by  Govern- 
ment on  one  or  two  occasions  as  well  as  one-twentieth 
part  of  the  lands  on  the  fertile  belt  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Territories. 

Mr.  Eden  Colville  promised  the  late  William 
Mactavish,  or  his  brother,  that  the  interests  of  the 
fur-trade  partners  would  be  protected  in  the  con- 
templated change,  but  the  seniors  of  1869-70  over- 
looked their  own  interests. 

In  1891,  the  need  of  larger  dividends  on  an  enor- 
mously swollen  capital  had  suggested  a  further 
pressure  of  the  screw  upon  the  unfortunate  winter- 
ing partners.  The  fund  set  aside  for  their  benefit 
was  now  in  danger.  As  one  wrote :  — 

For  Outfit  1889,  there  is  a  dividend  of  only  6/6  per 
share  from  all  sources  (land  included),  and  even  this 
makes  it  necessary  to  encroach  on  the  undivided 
profits  of  previous  years.  It  must  have  been  a  dis- 
agreeable ordeal  for  Sir  Donald  to  meet  the  share- 
holders with  such  a  report. 


From  Chief  Factor  W- 

29th  May,  1891. 

We  all  think  this  new  Commissioner  business  is  a 
most  foolish  action  of  the  Board.  It  is  an  insult  to  us 
all,  and  I  don't  wonder  that  many  are  very  angry 
about  it.  But  as  for  myself  I  shall  do  nothing  at 
present.  It  would  never  do  for  me  to  stir  up  strife 
before  the  new  man  comes.  I  promised  I  would  try 

183 


Lord  Strathcona 

to  conduct  the  business  until  Mr. 's  successor 

arrived  and  I  intend  to  keep  my  promise  faithfully. 

Of  course,  land  and  not  fur  was  the  Company's 
objective.  The  officials  sent  out  by  the  London 
Board  knew  nothing  of  the  fur-trade,  which  after 
all  was  according  to  the  traditional  policy  of  the 
Board.  Nor  were  they  of  the  calibre  of  Sir  George 
Simpson.  We  read:  — 

The  Montreal  Department  showed  a  loss  of  thirty- 
one  thousand  dollars,  and  of  this  actually  sixteen 
thousand  dollars  fell  to  Sir  Donald's  old  post  of 

Bersimis.   Poor  J M was  hustled  off  to 

Oxford  House  and  C S installed  in  his 

place.    Truly  the  Commissioner  makes  some  curious 

moves !   C goes  to  Bersimis  with  eight  or  nine 

helpless  children  and  a  Swampy  woman  as  nurse.  A  few 
more  nicely  balanced  "experts"  to  be  saddled  on  to 
that  broken-down  section! 

Even  the  Labrador  traffic  in  salmon,  so  valuable 
in  Sir  Donald's  day,  could  not  yield  a  profit. 

From  Chief  Factor  P.  W.  Bell 

RIGOLET,  June  28th,  1891. 

You  have  heard,  of  course,  of  the  outcome  of  our 
salmon  sales  in  London.  The  whole  fine  and  unusual 
collection  of  salmon  was  fairly  sacrificed  —  no  market 
at  all.  They  realized  53  per  cent  less  than  the  previous 
year.  You  can  fancy  the  outcome,  when  the  95  tierce 
only  shipped  the  Outfit  previous  realized  within  a 
fraction  almost  as  much  as  the  361  tierces  I  shipped 
from  this  place  alone.  I  am  sick  at  heart  and  entirely 

184 


Factors  lose  Heart 

disgusted  with  the  entire  business,  and  thank  goodness 
a  few  more  months  will  see  the  end  of  my  reign  in  this 
country. 

For  the  past  few  years,  the  cry  from  the  Secretary 
has  been,  "Salmon,  salmon."  For  the  first  time  the 
Erik  has  a  full  load,  so  much  so  that  the  people  at 
home  did  not  know  what  to  do  with  it.  I  can  meet 
them  all  with  a  fearless  face,  without  cavil  or  cringing, 
as  I  have  faithfully  done  my  duty  since  1852. 

We  have  again  passed  a  miserable,  disastrous  winter. 
These  two  past  winters  are  certainly  something  to  be 
remembered  by  all  residents.  Gales  and  snowstorms, 
month  after  month,  week  after  week,  and  day  after 
day;  hunting  and  trapping  was  out  of  the  question. 
The  poor  Husky  suffered  most  of  all,  as  he  could  not 
prosecute  his  favourite  seal-hunting.  We  could  not 
possibly  carry  on  the  necessary  outdoor  work  this 
spring,  as  there  was  no  abatement  of  the  cold,  frosty 
nights  until  a  week  ago. 

We  have,  in  spite  of  fate  and  weather,  secured  a  fair 
share  of  foxes.  They  have  done  well  in  that  line  north 
of  this,  and  I  only  hope  they  will  realize  something 
when  they  reach  the  market. 

From  Chief  Factor  J.  Ogden  Grahame 

REVELSTOKE,  B.C.,  May  2ist,  1891. 

I  have  waited  so  long  for  promotion,  and  have 
worked  so  hard  to  make  and  keep  affairs  prosperous, 
that  I  have  lost  heart  and  do  not  care  what  is  done.  I 
will,  until  I  can  see  something  better  to  do,  endeavour 
to  do  my  best  for  the  concern  and  still  do  my  utmost 
for  that  end. 

As  regards  the  officers,  what  can  we  do?   If  kicking 

185 


Lord  Strathcona 

is  the  order  of  the  day,  we  shall  simply  receive  a  year's 
notice,  be  suspended,  and  probably  lose  the  six  years' 
half-pay  which,  after  all,  is  only  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
Board. 

The  Deed  Poll  says  we  are  to  have  a  Council  yearly. 
This  is  not  done;  it  also  states  that  officers  shall  be 

judged  by  officers;  neither  S nor  C—      —  were. 

I  am  afraid  that  nothing  can  be  done  that  any  good 
would  be  derived  from. 

Of  one  of  Sir  Donald's  successors  we  are  told  that 
"he  acted  a  mean,  selfish  part;  was  looked  down 
upon  by  the  fur-traders  and  did  his  best  to  please 
only  the  Board.  He  had  to  leave;  and  Sir  Donald 
would  hardly  speak  to  him.  The  Council  was  a 
farce;  he  could  not  do  or  say  anything;  he  should 
have  remained  at  home.  Our  refusing  to  dine  with 
him  last  year  was  partly  what  killed  him,  although 
we  did  not  mean  it  that  way  at  the  time.  No 
dinners  this  year;  not  even  at  Sir  Donald's.  He  had 
just  returned  from  England  and  was  bothered  about 
elections  all  the  time." 

Roderick  Ross  to  a  'brother -factor 

VANCOUVER,  B.C.,  2Oth  December,  1891. 

There  is  no  mistake  about  it,  the  fiat  has  gone  forth 
and  Attila  is  to  ravage  and  destroy  the  handiwork 
of  the  "Company  of  Adventurers,"  that  ancient  guild 
that  has  reigned  in  the  land  for  two  long  centuries  and 
more.  The  Philistines,  or  rather  the  Jews,  are  now  at 
last  upon  us  in  reality,  and  there  must  be  a  dividend  if 
the  heavens  should  fall. 

's  mission  is  to  wind  up  the  old  concern,  to 

186 


"Sauve  qui  peut!" 

cremate  the  old  government  on  which  the  new  patch 
of  1872  was  tacked  only  to  make  the  rent  worse  as 
time  has  proved.  Many  of  us  foresaw  this,  and  some 
of  us  fought  against  it  to  the  death,  but  the  inevitable 
has  come  to  pass  so  that  the  cry  of  "Sauve  qui  peut!11  is 
heard  as  the  signal  of  total  rout.  "  Exit  Hudson's  Bay 
Company";  enter  Hudson's  Bay  Lands  and  Coloniza- 
tion Company,  Limited.  Do  you  think  that  all  this 
talk  at  late  Hudson's  Bay  annual  meetings  and  the 
shortcomings  of  sale  in  this  country  really  mean  the 
beginning  of  the  end  of  the  fur-trade?  If  so,  I  will  make 
only  one  other  remark  on  this  subject,  and  that  is  that 
this  is  a  very  favourable  moment  in  which  to  consider 
the  possibility  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  officers  stepping 
forward  in  their  own  interests  to  grasp  a  business,  even 
yet  of  great  promise  for  them  for  many  years  to  come. 
Would  the  Company  oppose  such  a  movement  now? 
I  think  not,  and  it  might  be  to  their  advantage  to 
manage  it.  You  can  see  all  this  better  than  /  can,  and 
perhaps  you  have  still  enough  "go"  in  you  to  set  the 

ball  rolling.    I  sounded the  other  day,  on  this 

subject,  but  he  harped  on  the  old  slur  of  the  impossi- 
bility of  united  action  on  our  part. 

I  have  enrolled  as  a  pensioner,  getting  £200  per 
annum,  which  I  am  politely  requested  to  enjoy  for  six 
years  on  condition  that  I  do  not  engage  in  the  fur- 
trade,  or  directly  or  indirectly  go  into  any  commercial 
business  of  any  kind  in  which  the  Company  is  con- 
cerned !  !  So  there  is  a  fine  predicament  to  be  in  at  my 
time  of  life.  Is  our  whole  life,  and  everything  we  hold 
most  dear  to  us,  to  be  really  sacrificed  to  the  Company, 
when  once  we  doff  their  uniform?  What  do  I  know 
about  anything  except  the  business  the  Company  is 
engaged  in? 

187 


Lord  Strathcona 

I  saw  Sir  Donald  Smith  over  here  in  September.  He 
was  as  kind  and  considerate  as  ever,  but  I  asked  him 
for  no  favours.  The  gloom  and  despair  of  a  prematurely 
dying  man  has  now  succeeded  the  hopeful  confidence 
of  the  bread-winner  who  has  a  sacred  duty  to  perform 
for  those  dependent  on  him.  We  are  all  well,  and 
although  unavoidably  scattered  apart  by  mountains, 
plains,  and  forests,  my  hope  being  that  if  God  spares 
my  life  this  state  of  things  will  soon  be  remedied. 


From  Sir  Donald  A .  Smith 

i  LIME  STREET,  LONDON, 
8th  January,  1892. 

I  have  for  some  ten  days  been  laid  up  from  the 
effects  of  a  severe  cold,  and  it  is  only  quite  recently 
that  I  am  able  to  give  attention  to  correspondence 
again.  I  cannot  think  how  my  letters  to  Mr.  Abbott, 
covering  yours  to  me  of  the  nth  November,  failed  to 
reach  him.  It  was  certainly  posted  from  my  office, 
copies  of  both  being  kept  there,  and  having  the  follow- 
ing day  met  Mr.  Abbott  at  dinner  in  Montreal  I  told 
him  it  had  been  sent  to  his  address  at  Ottawa.  I  am 
very  glad  with  him  for  the  letters  of  December,  copies 
of  which  you  have  been  good  enough  to  send  me.  It  is 
not  easy  to  move  the  Dominion  Government  to  dis- 
pense money  for  the  relief  of  Indians,  so  long  as  they 
think  there  is  any  possibility  of  fathering  the  expense 
on  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  but  Mr.  Abbott  led 
me  to  infer  that  they  would  be  disposed  to  authorize 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  make  advances  at  their 
own  discretion  for  which  they  would  reimburse  the 
Company.  On  my  return  to  Canada  I  shall  urge  that 
the  Government  pay  the  outlay  already  incurred  in 

1 88 


Mrs.  Stephen's  Health 

this  way,  and  make  a  further  appropriation  for  the 
same  purpose. 

Political  influence  always  avails  more  or  less,  and 
doubtless  other  claimants  without  a  tittle  of  right  will 
endeavour  to  procure  for  themselves  a  part  of  what 
ought  to  go  to  you,  but  I  trust  this  may  be  prevented, 
and  I  shall  do  anything  I  can  in  that  direction. 

I  am  glad  you,  Mr.  Mackenzie,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Parson  had  an  enjoyable  evening  at  the  St.  Andrew's 
Ball,  and  that  it  proved  to  be  a  success.  Business  has 
brought  me  to  England  so  much  in  the  autumn  for 
a  long  time  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  be  at  the 
Montreal  St.  Andrew's  Ball  for  quite  a  number  of 
years.  My  wife  appears  to  have  had  a  somewhat  severe 
attack  of  influenza  which  confined  her  to  the  house  for 
upwards  of  three  weeks,  but  I  am  glad  to  find  she  has 
quite  recovered  from  it.  We  have  been  anxious  for 
three  or  four  days  back  about  old  Mrs.  Stephen,1  of 
Montreal,  who  has  been  dangerously  ill  with  the  same 
disease,  with  pneumonia  superadded,  but  notwith- 
standing her  great  age,  eighty-six  or  eighty-seven,  I 
earnestly  trust  she  may  get  well  over  it. 

Again  very  many  thanks  for  all  you  so  kindly  say 
and  for  your  kind  interest  so  thoughtfully  shown  in  my 
welfare.  I  assure  you  I  greatly  appreciate  all  you  say 
and  feel  in  this,  and  you  do  me  only  justice  in  believing 
that  the  best  interests  of  my  old  colleagues  in  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  are  very  close  to  my  heart, 
and  I  would  gladly  advance  them  as  far  as  I  possibly 
can. 

1  His  first  cousin,  mother  of  Lord  Mount  Stephen. 


I89 


Lord  Strathcona 

From  Chief  Factor  S.  K.  Parsons 

LONDON,  igth  April,  1892. 

I  had  a  most  unsatisfactory  interview  with  the 
Board  and  found  the  Deputy  Governor,  Lord  Lichfield, 
most  overbearing;  in  fact,  he  would  listen  to  nothing 
except  his  own  views.  After  stating  what  he  thought 
of  the  affairs  in  the  South,  he  said  that  they  intended 
that  I  should  go  down  and  put  things  straight. 

I  replied  that  when  I  consented  to  go  for  one  year 
I  assumed  that  my  right  to  retire,  upon  giving  twelve 
months'  notice  according  to  the  Deed  Poll,  would  be 
respected.  I  pointed  out  that  out  of  thirty-one  years 
in  the  service,  I  had  passed  nineteen  in  Hudson's  Bay, 
and  that  as  an  old  officer,  I  considered  I  had  not  been 
treated  with  the  consideration  I  thought  myself  en- 
titled to  expect.  He  sneered  at  this,  and  suggested 
that  I  should  consider  my  resignation  as  having  been 
given  in  on  1st  June,  1891,  which  suggestion  I  promptly 
acceded  to,  and  the  affair  is  so  settled.  I  assume  that  I 
shall  get  Outfit  1892,  being  one  of  the  men  who  re- 
ceived no  compensation  under  the  old  Deed  Poll. 
Every  one  (Armit  included)  considers  that  I  have  done 
right.  The  whole  business  has  been  bungled,  or  else  it 
is  a  deliberate  conspiracy  to  drive  me  from  the  service. 
The  Board  do  not  know  the  first  thing  about  our  business: 
we  need  none  of  us  expect  the  smallest  consideration  from 
the  Board.  I  am  a  free  man  now. 

I  must  say  that  I  am  sorry  at  leaving  the  service 
after  so  long  being  in  it,  and  however  bitter  I  may  feel 
against  the  Company,  I  hope  to  retain  my  old  brother 
officers  among  my  warmest  friends. 


190 


An  Old  Officer  resigns 

From  Chief  Factor  Horace  Belanger 

NORWAY  HOUSE,  2d  May,  1892. 

In  compliance  with  the  conditions  of  the  Deed  Poll, 
I  beg  to  inform  you  that  it  is  my  intention  to  retire 
from  the  service  on  1st  June,  1893,  on  which  date  I 
shall  have  been  connected  with  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  for  a  period  of  forty  years.  During  that 
time  I  have  served  in  the  following  grades:  — 

19  years  as  Clerk; 
I  year  as  Chief  Trader; 
12  years  as  Factor;  and 
8  years  as  Chief  Factor; 

and  in  whatever  capacity  I  was  employed  it  has  always 
been  my  earnest  endeavour  to  do  my  duty  to  the  best 
of  my  ability  and  to  promote  the  interest  of  the  Com- 
pany in  every  way  in  my  power.  I  sincerely  trust  that 
the  Board  as  well  as  yourself  will  regard  my  claims  on 
their  consideration  favourably,  and  see  fit  to  concede 
me  the  full  retiring  shares. 

My  reason  for  leaving  is  entirely  of  a  private  nature, 
viz.,  the  welfare  of  my  family,  from  whom  I  am  at 
present  obliged  to  be  separated.  At  my  time  of  life  it 
is  my  duty  to  make  a  home,  however  humble,  for  my 
children  and  myself,  and  it  is  with  this  object  in  view 
that  I  have  brought  myself,  with  much  regretful 
feeling,  to  sever  my  active  connection  with  the  Com- 
pany in  whose  service  I  spent  so  many  happy,  though 
sometimes  hard,  years,  and  in  whose  prosperity  I  shall 
ever  continue  to  take  a  deep  interest. 

"God  knows,"  writes  Belanger  in  a  letter  to  a 
brother  factor,  "  I  will  have  soon  enough  to  paddle 

191 


Lord  Strathcona 

my  own  canoe.  Next  first  of  June,  I  will  have 
served  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  forty  years." 1 

Poor  Belanger,  he  did  not  survive  many  weeks. 
He  was  accidentally  drowned  in  a  river,  his  death 
being  regretted  by  all  who  knew  his  staunch  and 
cheery  character. 

The  growing  resentment  of  the  fur-traders  is  thus 
illustrated :  — 


Chief  Factor  A.  B.  to  Factor  M.  F. 

2d  November,  1892. 

I  have  just  seen  a  letter  from  Tapper's  ex-secretary, 
who  has  been  pitchforked  into  the  position  of  Chief 
Commissioner  (ye  gods!)  of  the  fur-trade.  In  it  he 
says:  "  I  was  present  at  the  distribution  of  prizes  at  St. 

John's  College  last  night.  A.  M 's  boy  carried 

off  the  Governor-General's  prize  and  the  medal  pre- 
sented by  the  Bishop  of  Rupert's  Land.  Hurrah  for 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company!" 

Can  you  conceive  of  such  cool  effrontery !  Daring  to 

claim  this  fine  young  scion  of  old  A M 

for  those  cold-hearted  Lime  Street  scoundrels! 

We  are  told  that  "New  blood  —  new  blood!" 
was  the  cry  at  meetings  of  the  London  Board. 

1  The  Factor  at  Oxford  House  wrote  (November  5th,  1892): 
"My  neighbour  of  Norway  House,  Mr.  Belanger,  severs  his  connec- 
tion with  us  next  first  of  June,  after  forty  years  of  business.  We  may 
all  well  exclaim  with  Shakespeare,  'We  ne'er  shall  look  upon  his  like 
again.' " 


192 


Board's  New  Policy 

From  Factor  W.  K.  Broughton 

MOOSE  FACTORY,  nth  February,  1893. 

I  submit  that  the  pension  should  have  been  made  a 
vested  interest,  payable  to  one's  representatives  in  the 
event  of  death  occurring  before  the  expiration  of  the 
six  years.  No  matter  what  Sir  Donald  attempts  to  do 
for  us,  past  experience  has,  I  think,  plainly  shown  us 
that  the  Board  always  take  their  own  course  in  spite 
of  him.  It  was  so  at  the  time  of  the  "Round  Robin." 
You  will  remember  we  held  out  for  a  minimum  guar- 
antee of  £200  and  the  Board  offered  £150,  and  carried 
their  point,  too.  True,  we  got  the  £200  afterwards, 
but  they  established  their  point  in  the  first  instance. 
But  to  resume :  I  cannot  say  that  I  am  not  glad  of  the 
six  years'  pension  even  under  existing  circumstances, 
and  I  feel  sure  that  it  will  enable  many  to  make  homes 
for  themselves  (at  any  rate,  in  this  country)  and  sever 
their  connection  with  the  Company  much  sooner  than 
they  could  otherwise  have  done,  and  this,  I  think,  is 
what  is  desired  by  the  Directorate. 

"New  blood  —  new  blood!"  is  the  cry,  and  I  would 
take  a  pretty  heavy  bet  with  any  one  that  no  new 
commissions  will  ever  again  be  given;  those  holding 
commissions  at  present  will  be  promoted  from  time  to 
time  if  it  is  thought  advisable  to  retain  their  services, 
but  after  this  I  fancy  the  places  of  those  commissioned 
officers  retiring  will  be  taken  by  clerks  who  will  be 
salaried  according  to  capacity,  or  I  should  rather  say, 
"ability,"  and  the  amount  of  responsibility  they 
assume. 

.  .  .  Surely  they  will  do  something  for  poor  old 

P .  It  will  be  simply  disgraceful  if  they  don't 

give  him  a  pension ;  he  has  been  told  they  have  nothing 

193 


Lord  Strathcona 

for  him  to  do,  and  I  fancy  the  fact  of  B -  not 

having  yet  been  appointed  to  any  charge  points  in 
the  same  direction. 

Slowly,  Sir  Donald's  contemporaries  disappeared, 
one  by  one,  from  the  scene. 


From  Chief  Factor  Alexander  Munro 

VICTORIA,  B.C.,  8th  June,  1893. 

. . .  Naturally  you  refer  to  the  many  changes  by  death 
and  otherwise  that  have  taken  place  in  the  service 
since  1887,  that  memorable  year.  The  number  of  them 
in  so  short  a  time  is  remarkable  as  well  as  most  affect- 
ing. I  often  think  of  those  few  days  and  nights  of  our 
meeting  in  Winnipeg  and  of  those  of  our  number  since 
departed.  Poor  Belanger's  fate  was  indeed  very  sad. 
It  is  remarkable,  too,  that  so  many  of  his  family 
should  have  perished  by  drowning. 

You  may  well  exclaim  that  the  old  days  and  pros- 
pects of  the  officer  are  gone  forever.  I  am  greatly 
pleased,  however,  to  learn  that  you  think  the  pension 
scheme  is  likely  to  be  bettered  for  them  by  a  definite 
arrangement  this  summer,  and  sincerely  hope  for  all 
your  sakes  that  it  may  be  so.  The  Winnipeg  Council 
of  '87  adjourned  for  five  years,  did  n't  it?  The  time  has 
expired.  Will  there  ever  be  such  another  gathering! 

From  Chief  Factor  Bell  to  R.  MacFarlane 

KINGSTON,  June  loth,  1893. 

Matters  in  regard  to  myself  and  appointment  are  in 
abeyance  at  present.  My  furlough  expired  on  the  I5th 
ultimo.  The  climax  is  to  be  adjudicated  at  the  meeting 

194 


Commissioned  Officers  to  go 

in  London.  What  is  up  now,  and  what  in  Heaven's 
name  have  the  Board  and  Committee  to  do  with  the 
appointment  of  officers  in  the  country?  The  Com- 
missioner is  surely  empowered  to  do  that,  especially 
when  he  has  such  a  backer  as  Sir  Donald.  This  is  an 
extract  from  Sir  Donald's  letter  to  me  on  the  1st  inst. : 
"I  shall  be  crossing  the  Atlantic  soon  myself,  and 
matters  in  connection  with  your  own  position  in  the 
Company's  service  will  be  taken  up  and  disposed  of  at 
an  early  date."  There  the  matter  rests. 

25th  December,  1893. 

The  present  idea  of  the  new  Chief  Commissioner 
is  to  manage  the  concern  as  cheaply  as  possible.  The 
Board  are  doubtless  backing  him  with  the  cry  of  re- 
trenchment: reduce  all  and  every  expense  consistent 
with  carrying  on  the  trade.  If  they  can  get  their  first 
and  second  clerks  to  do  the  work  of  their  commis- 
sioned officers,  they  are  going  to  make  use  of  them  so 
as  to  get  rid  of  their  old  officers  by  degrees.  What 
about  the  clerks  and  commissions?  Will  they  choose  to 
remain  clerks  all  their  life? 

Deeply  grieved  was  Sir  Donald  when  he  heard 
the  serious  news  from  his  old  district  of  Ungava  and 
took  immediate  steps  to  improve  matters  there. 

From  Chief  Factor  Bell 

CHRISTMAS  DAY,  1893. 

The  news  from  Ungava  is  distressing  in  the  extreme: 
no  less  than  two  hundred  souls  of  the  Inland  Indians 
perished  from  starvation  during  the  winter  and  spring 
and  some  twenty-five  Esquimaux.  All  this  is  to  be 
attributed  to  the  want  of  deer.  The  horde  of  these 

195 


Lord  Strathcona 

migratory  animals  seem  to  have  taken  another  course 
for  their  usual  old  haunts.  No  trace  of  their  route 
could  be  found,  consequently  this  sad  loss  of  life. 

I  never  heard  of  such  calamity  in  my  life,  no  such 
wholesale  slaughtering  having  transpired  since  the 
advent  of  the  old  tried  North-West  Company. 

It  appears  that  only  ten  families  reached  the  post, 
where  they  had  to  be  fed  all  winter.  What  think  you 
would  have  been  the  consequence  if  fifty  or  sixty 
families  could  have  dragged  themselves  out?  They 
simply  would  have  eaten  Matheson  out  of  house  and 
home ;  provisions  were  at  a  very  low  ebb  and  assuredly 
the  whole  post  would  simply  have  starved  to  death.  May 
the  kind  fates  never  bring  them  to  such  a  brink  again. 

Mr.  Matheson  writes  that  it  only  leaves  about  a 
hundred  all  told  of  the  Inland  Indians.  The  residue 
of  the  hunters  are  all  trash.  I  cannot  see  what  under 
the  circumstances,  will  keep  Ungava  up.  The  salmon 
and  oil  will  never  do,  as  the  prices  are  so  fluctuating 
and  altogether  unreliable.  The  district  losing  the  fur- 
trade  loses  the  last  chance  of  remuneration.  Say  what- 
ever you  like,  the  pickled  salmon  has  seen  its  best  days 
and  will  soon  be  a  thing  of  the  past. 

From  Chief  Factor  A —  B — 

KINGSTON,  September  8th,  1893. 

I  have  no  idea  what  they  purpose  doing,  but  this  I 
know,  that  my  patience  is  all  but  at  an  end.  I  cannot 
endure  this  forced  idleness,  and  what  is  more  to  the 
point,  I  cannot  afford  it.  I  will  have  to  wait  now  until 
Sir  Donald  comes  out.  It  must  be  finally  settled  then, 
am  I  to  remain  in  the  service  or  not?  There  must  be 
no  more  dilly-dallying  in  the  matter.  Ever  since  my 

196 


The  Lonely  Fur-Traders 

arrival  last  autumn,  no  one  could  have  received  more 
kindness  and  consideration  than  I  have  from  Sir 
Donald.  What  is  the  use  of  all  this,  if  you  are  to  be 
kicked  in  the  end  by  the  Board? 

If  Mr.  C was  as  anxious  as  he  professes  to  be, 

he  would  doubtless  have  found  a  suitable  place  for  me. 
Sir  Donald  will  soon  be  out  now. 

In  an  address  in  April,  1897,  Lord  Strathcona 
thus  referred  to  the  life  of  the  lonely  fur- traders :  — 

Thousands  of  miles  separated  the  more  distant  posts 
from  those  which  may  be  termed  the  shipping  ports. 
The  life  of  many  of  the  officers  of  the  Company  can 
readily  be  imagined.  They  saw  few  people  of  their  own 
kith  and  kin,  or  of  their  own  race,  except  at  long  inter- 
vals. There  were  occasional  councils  and  gatherings 
at  central  places,  but  their  visits  to  civilization  were 
few  and  far  between.  In  fact,  they  were  more  or  less 
out  of  the  world.  Letters  only  reached  them  in  many 
places  once  a  year.  Newspapers  and  magazines  were 
many  months  old  when  received,  and  the  most  impor- 
tant events  happened  without  their  knowing  anything 
of  them  for  long  afterwards.  They  lived  well,  and  had 
plenty  of  time  for  reading  and  meditation ;  but  the  life 
must  have  had  its  attractions,  for  the  officers  were 
devoted  to  their  posts  and  to  their  work.  The  great 
event  of  the  year  was  the  arrival  of  the  stores  and  the 
mails.  The  canoes  or  dog  trains  which  took  in  the 
supplies  carried  away  the  proceeds  of  the  year's  trading. 
Most  of  the  Company's  exports  to  Europe  were  then 
carried  in  their  own  vessels  by  way  of  Hudson's  Bay.1 

1  In  February,  1897,  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  wrote  Lord  Strathcona 
that  Mr.  (now  Senator)  L.  O.  David  was  desirous  of  undertaking  the 
history  of  the  fur-trade.  To  this  Lord  Strathcona  replied:  "  I  quite 
agree  with  you  in  the  opinion  that  it  is  most  desirable  we  should  have 

197 


Lord  Strathcona 

At  the  Company's  annual  meeting  in  July,  1904, 
Lord  Strathcona  noted  that  more  than  130,000 
immigrants  had  gone  into  Manitoba  and  the 
North-West  Territories  the  previous  year,  of  whom 
at  least  one  third  were  from  neighbouring  districts 
of  the  United  States. 

"  Inasmuch  as  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  owns 
one  twentieth  of  the  prairie  acreage  and  is  most  in- 
timately concerned  with  the  retail  business  of  the 
country,  it  is  obvious  that  this  immigration  must 
bring  much  benefit  to  it."  Indeed,  in  the  year  1903- 
04  the  Company  realized  £i  55.  3^.  per  acre  for 
land  sold  as  against  £i  35.  $d.  in  the  previous  year. 

In  October,  1904,  owing  to  the  vast  profits  which 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  were  making  out  of 
the  sale  of  lands,  Lord  Strathcona  induced  the 
Board  to  grant  a  more  liberal  pension  scheme  for 
the  men  who  had  grown  old  in  their  service.  But 
this  scheme  did  not  comprehend  those  officers  who 
had  retired  prior  to  that  year,  the  true  heirs  and 
successors  of  the  Rupert's  Land  pioneers. 

Chief  Factor  MacFarlane  to  a  Director 

7th  October,  1907. 

I  have  before  stated  that  these  "old  officers"  had 
given  due  thanks  for  the  yearly  grant  of  two  fifths  of 

a  good  history  of  the  fur-trade  in  North  America,  and  in  so  far  as 
I  can  help  Mr.  L.  O.  David  with  material  for  it,  or  in  any  other  way, 
I  shall  most  gladly  do  so.  This  can  be  arranged  personally  when  we 
meet."  Mr.  David  having  relinquished  his  plan,  the  task,  at  Sir 
Wilfrid's  instance,  fell  to  my  pen.  The  Company's  archives  were 
generously  placed  at  my  disposal  and  the  Governor  supplied  the 
introduction  to  the  work,  which  was  published  in  1900. 

198 


An  Appeal  to  the  Board 

the  amount  of  pension  guaranteed  to  many  of  their 
service  contemporaries,  while  they,  no  doubt,  would 
have  felt  more  grateful  had  their  own  equally  long  and 
faithful  connection  with  the  Company  received  simi- 
lar recognition.  Had  your  fellow-director  taken  the 
trouble  of  carefully  considering  the  subject  of  the  com- 
plained-of  letters  and  papers  which  he  says  Lord 
Strathcona  had,  from  time  to  time,  reported  the  pur- 
port of  to  the  Board,  I  believe  he  would  have  better 
understood  their  import,  and  would  at  least  have 
refrained  from  taxing  the  officers  with  ingratitude. 

Should  all  of  the  referred-to  documents  be  still  in 
existence,  and  you  desire  to  peruse  and  ponder  over 
them  at  your  leisure,  they  would  certainly  enlighten 
you  on  many  points  regarding  the  history  and  former 
status  of  the  wintering  partners  of  the  Company  since 
the  coalition  with  the  North- West  Traders  of  Montreal 
in  1821.  You  would  also,  I  opine,  more  readily  than 
any  of  your  colleagues  (the  Governor  always  excepted) , 
comprehend  the  raison  d'etre  of  my  long  friendly  and 
truly  loyal  contention  with  them  in  favour  of  "better 
terms"  for  men  who  have  given  by  far  the  best  of  their 
years  and  lives  to,  and  in  zealously  and  faithfully 
maintaining,  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  Company  of 
Adventurers  of  England  trading  into  Hudson's  Bay. 

The  Board  of  Directors  evidently  believe  that  they 
have  treated  the  old  officers  very  liberally.  I  have, 
however,  shown  that  this  is  not  the  case,  and  we  there- 
fore sincerely  hope  that  the  youngest  and  oldest  mem- 
bers of  the  Executive  will  unite  in  disabusing  the 
others  of  this  erroneous  idea,  which  seems  to  savour  too 
much  of  the  ancient  Medo-Persian  policy.  May  I  not 
further  appeal  to  you  as  an  English  gentleman,  —  a 
lover  of  justice  and  fair  play,  in  all  matters,  —  to  do 

199 


Lord  Strathcona 

your  utmost  in  removing  the  complained-of  griev- 
ance. 

For  obvious  reasons,  apart  from  those  herein  stated, 
it  is  to  be  earnestly  hoped  that  the  Governor  and 
Committee  will  now  reconsider  the  case  of  the  "old 
officers,"  and  at  once  find  that  they  really  merit  the 
granting  to  them  as  from  ist  June,  1904,  the  whole 
amount  of  their  respective  rank  "time  limited" 
pensions,  and  thus  place  them  on  a  basis  more  nearly 
approaching  that  of  their  later  brethren.  This  gener- 
ous and  retroactive  course  would  be  not  only  warmly 
welcomed,  but  also  come  as  a  perfect  "Godsend"  to 
Mrs.  Lillie,  Mrs.  Camsell  (Chief  Factor  Camsell  died 
in  January,  1907),  as  well  as  to  nearly  all  of  those  who 
would  benefit  thereunder,  and  its  adoption  would 
undoubtedly  elicit  their  profound  gratitude. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Governor  will  be  able  to 
explain  to  you  all  about  the  fur-trade  partnership, 
and  the  surrender  in  1893  of  certain  Deed  Poll  rights, 
which  have  since  wholly  provided  the  Servants'  Pen- 
sion Fund  of  £50,000  sterling.  The  shareholders  have 
practically  contributed  nothing  thereto. 

There  was  really  no  just  or  valid  reason  for  the 
very  unfair  discrimination  exercised  by  the  Board 
in  dealing  with  their  "old  officers"  who  retired 
from  the  service  prior  to  1st  June,  1904.  The 
surrender  of  the  Deed  Poll  fur-trade  rights  in  1893, 
without  any  compensation  whatever,  adversely  af- 
fected the  old  officers,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
this  valuable  acquisition  has  not  only  given  the 
Board  the  means  of  repaying  to  the  shareholders 
every  penny  advanced  by  them  in  the  way  of 
making  up  former  guarantees,  but  furnished  them 

200 


A  "Historical  Concern"  only 

with  the  whole  amount  of  the  Company's  actual 
Pension  Fund  of  £50,000. 

The  shareholders  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
had  at  length  acquired,  without  any  actual  outlay, 
the  en  tire  two  fifth  rights  and  interests  of  their  former 
fur-trade  partners.  This  fact  was  scarcely  appreci- 
ated by  the  majority  within  the  service,  while  out- 
side citizens  of  the  great  Dominion  of  Canada  are 
still  in  utter  ignorance  of  it. 

The  Board  of  Directors  maintained  then  and 
still  maintain  that  their  fur-trade  partners  have,  on 
the  whole,  been  fairly  treated ;  also  that  the  past  is 
a  closed  book.  "No  question,"  vainly  protested  one 
trader,  "  is  ever  settled  until  it  is  rightly  settled." 

I  would  once  more  ask  you  [wrote  Chief  Factor 
MacFarlane  again  in  1908]  to  do  your  utmost  to  aid 
in  doing  the  right  thing  by  those  in  whose  behalf  I 
have  taken  much  trouble  for  many  years  past,  men, 
nearly  all  of  whom,  as  the  Governor  well  knows  from 
his  own  personal  experience  in  the  service,  have 
suffered  many  hardships,  and  endured  many  priva- 
tions in  the  performance  of  their  onerous  duties  in 
the  interior. 

In  reply  one  of  the  Directors  wrote:  — 

It  is  really  quite  useless  to  reopen  a  case  long  since 
settled  or  to  trouble  the  Board  further  with  papers  and 
correspondence  relating  to  a  period  with  which  the 
existing  Hudson's  Bay  Company  have  only  an  histori- 
cal concern. 

This  "historical  concern"  was  the  possession 
of  millions  of  acres  of  lands  which  the  wintering 

201 


Lord  Strathcona 

partners  had  discovered,  explored,  and  held  for 
the  Empire,  and  which  the  London  shareholders 
were  now  disposing  of  at  a  rate  which  was  making 
wealthy  men  out  of  many  who  had  formerly  been 
as  poor  as  the  Rupert's  Land  pioneers. 

From  R.  Pauling 

HULL,  January  yth,  1907. 

I  don't  hear  of  anything  being  done  to  settle  the 
claims  of  old  Hudson's  Bay  servants  for  the  land  they 
are  legally  entitled  to. 

Factor  W.  H.  Adams  to  a  fellow-officer 

I3th  June,  1907. 

The  announcement  of  a  dividend  of  £4  55.  od.  per 
share  on  the  Hudson's  Bay  stock  was  followed  by 
a  decline  of  some  points  in  the  market  quotation, 
attributed,  according  to  the  Daily  Telegraph,  to  dis- 
appointment in  the  amount  of  the  dividend  declared. 
The  grounds  for  this  I  fail  to  see,  for  40^  per  cent  on 
par  value  should  be  sufficiently  satisfying.  But  some 
people  are  never  satisfied,  and  in  spite  of  the  mal- 
contents, if  they  exist,  I  expect  to  see  an  advance  in 
the  price  of  stock  at  no  very  distant  date. 

Yet  even  these  dividends  did  not  lead  to  any 
greater  consideration  for  the  men  who  had  made 
their  prosperity.  In  one  instance,  a  capable  officer 
died  because  the  medical  officer  had  been  with- 
drawn from  a  district  as  part  of  the  policy  of 
"retrenchment." 

000 


Company's  Swollen  Dividends 
From  Factor  W.  H.  Adams 

I5th  May,  1908. 

You  will  be  grieved  to  hear  of  the  death  of  my  old 
brother  officer,  Tom  Anderson,  whom  I  had  learned  to 
like  much.  Had  adequate  advice  been  available  he 
might  have  been  spared  to  many  more  years  of  useful 
service  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  It  always 
seemed  to  me  that  the  Company,  in  default  of  the 
Government's  employing  efficient  medical  aid  in  the 
Northern  latitudes,  should  have  provided  a  medical 
officer  both  in  Athabasca  and  Mackenzie  River  dis- 
tricts, if  even  they  had  withdrawn  one  from  Winnipeg. 
The  expense  would  not  have  made  any  appreciative 
difference  in  the  dividends. 

Many  instances  might  be  given  of  Lord  Strath- 
cona's  tenderness  for  old  officers  of  the  service,  who 
had  erred  or  been  overtaken  by  affliction.  In  one 
letter  he  wrote  to  the  widow  of  a  clerk  who  had  been 
only  five  years  with  the  Company :  — 

I  have  mentioned  the  matter  to  the  Board ;  but  I  am 
afraid  it  is  one  which  they  do  not  feel  inclined  to  deal 
with  at  present.  In  the  mean  time  [how  characteristic 
was  the  phrase  —  how  careful  of  the  reputation  for 
generosity  of  the  Board !]  I  beg  to  enclose  my  personal 
cheque  for  £100  which  I  trust  may  be  of  use  to  you. 

On  one  occasion  an  old  servant  had  been  sum- 
marily dismissed  for  a  fault.  The  Board  washed  its 
hands  of  the  matter.  A  friend  appealed  to  the 
Governor. 


203 


Lord  Strathcona 

Factor  D.  H.  MacDowall  to  a  friend 

PRINCE  ALBERT,  April  24th,  1891. 

The  day  I  left  Ottawa,  Sir  Donald  told  me  that 

D would  be  allowed  his  retiring  interest,  and 

that  he  would  do  what  he  could  for  him  if  there  was 
any  position  to  which  he  could  recommend  him. 

Sir  Donald  Smith  thought  that  a  season  on  the  Mac- 
kenzie might  have  recouped  the  Company  and  saved 

him,  as  D undoubtedly  had  usefulness  when  he 

had  an  interest  to  serve  or  a  strong  hand  over  him, 
without  the  extreme  measure  of  throwing  him  on  the 
world  with  an  unfortunate  reputation.  ...  I  only  feel 
sorry  for  his  wife  and  children. 

Chief  Factor  P.  W.  Bell  to  a  fellow-officer 

RIGOLET,  LABRADOR,  July  i2th,  1891. 

I  have  written  fully  to  Sir  Donald  explaining  the 
whole  matter,  telling  him  that  after  forty  years'  hard, 
honourable,  faithful  service,  I  will  be  no  man's  tool. 
I  simply  made  a  just  application  for  my  well-deserved 
furlough  and  gave  the  Company  a  year  to  choose  my 
successor. 

They  can  and  will,  no  doubt,  make  me  give  in  my 
resignation.  This  I  will  do  if  required,  sending  the 
notice  by  mail  and  follow  my  letter  by  the  next  steamer. 

The  Governor  to  Chief  Factor  Bell 

I  should  be  very  sorry  if  any  such  untoward  events 
were  to  occasion  the  loss  to  the  Company  of  one  of 
their  best  officers.  It  shall  not  be  if  I  can  prevent  it. 

204 


Fall  in  Prices  of  Furs 

It  only  remains  to  add  that  this  officer  was 
granted  a  lengthy  furlough  and  was  subsequently 
given  a  post  in  the  more  salubrious  climate  of 
British  Columbia. 

To  Chief  Factor  Peter  Mackenzie 

23  March,  1901. 

You  will  already  have  heard  of  the  sad  downcome  of 
prices  obtained  at  the  March  sales  this  year,  when 
compared  with  1900,  a  fifty  per  cent  decline  in  all  the 
most  important  items.  This  is  a  sad  disappointment, 
as  we  were  rather  led  to  expect  that  furs  latterly  had 
been  looking  up  in  the  market.  But  perhaps  —  and  let 
us  hope  it  may  be  so  —  by  the  time  next  year's  collec- 
tions come  in,  there  will  be  an  improvement.  The 
better  salmon  fishing  at  Ungava  this  last  season  will  be 
a  good  help  to  the  next  year's  outfit. 

You  certainly  want  all  the  good  men  you  can  have 
as  managers  and  post-masters  in  the  district  lying  near 
to  civilization  and  I  am  sorry  to  find  from  you  that  we 
have  not  many  such  at  present. 

1 9th  September,  1902. 

What  you  have  to  say  about  Mr.  (or,  as  it  may  be, 
Count)  D'Aigneau's  proceedings,  gives  cause  for  con- 
cern, and  I  hope  that  not  only  at  Moose  Factory,  but 
at  all  the  other  posts  we  have,  those  in  charge  can  meet 
the  situation  ...  in  which  case  there  need  be  less  cause 
for  apprehension  as  regards  the  trade. 

6th  March,  1903. 

Thank  you  very  much  for  the  information  you  give 
about  the  Revillon  Freres'  operations  in  James's  Bay, 

205 


Lord  Strathcona 

and  along  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and  Gulf.  They  may 
do  some  harm,  but  it  is  far  from  likely  that  it  will  be  of 
any  profit  to  themselves,  as,  no  doubt,  our  people  will 
be  on  the  alert  to  make  the  best  of  the  situation. 

I  am  glad  the  pheasants  reached  you  in  good  condi- 
tion [he  writes  on  another  occasion  to  Mr.  Mackenzie], 
and  if  you  happen  to  be  over  here,  which  I  hope  may 
be  the  case  some  time  soon,  you  must  come  to  Kneb- 
worth  and  shoot  some  for  yourself.  The  sport,  they 
tell  me,  is  good;  although  personally  I  do  not  care 
about  it,  as  it  is  hardly  equal  to  what  we  have  been 
accustomed  in  the  Canadian  woods. 

Later,  in  spite  of  much  criticism,  he  insisted  that 
this  old  officer,  whose  health  had  given  way,  should 
not  be  deposed,  and  his  duties  were  performed  for  a 
long  period  by  deputy,  until  his  death. 

Factor  Adams  to  C.  F.  MacFarlane 

1 5th  May,  1908. 

I  hear  that  so  long  as  Mr.  Peter  Mackenzie  is  alive, 
his  successor  in  the  Montreal  Department  is  not  likely 
to  be  appointed.  Whilst  sympathizing  with  Mr. 
Mackenzie,  as  all  must  do  in  his  serious  physical  con- 
dition, it  appears  to  me  that  his  retirement  would 
be  not  only  just  to  himself,  but  also  to  the  staff  of  the 
service,  and  I  know  of  no  precedent  for  the  existing 
arrangement. 

To  the  close  of  his  life  he  kept  in  touch  with  the 
survivors  amongst  his  old  friends  in  the  service,  so 
few  of  whom,  alas,  now  remain. 


206 


Correspondence  with  Factors 
From  Governor  Sir  Donald  Smith 

January  25th,  1891. 

I  was  very  sorry  to  hear  of  Mr.  Clarke's  death.  It 
is  very  sad  to  see  what  blanks  have  of  recent  years 
been  made  in  our  service  from  deaths  alone.  Dear 
me,  there  are  very  few  alive  now  of  the  officers  of 
twenty  years  ago ! 

Years  later  he  heard  from  his  successor  at  Rigo- 
let,  in  Esquimaux  Bay. 

July  1st,  1900. 

The  old  Labrador  is  carried  on  in  the  same  old  ratio, 
fairly  plenty  —  dire  starvation  the  next.  The  trade  in 
that  great  solitude  is  very  unsatisfactory.  I  cannot  for 
the  life  of  me  understand  why  the  Company  keep  it  up. 

Ungava,  depending  more  upon  the  migratory  fox, 
has  been  going  down  hill  for  the  past  two  outfits.  The 
salmon  and  oil  fisheries  have  proved  all  but  a  failure 
for  the  past  two  seasons.  The  unfortunate  post  has 
never  been  able  to  pull  up  from  the  Slough  of  Despond. 

To  Ex-Chief  Factor  Colin  Rankin 

MONTREAL,  22d  October,  1900. 

With  one  or  two  friends  who  dined  with  me  yester- 
day I  had  an  opportunity  of  testing  the  partridges  you 
so  kindly  and  thoughtfully  sent  me,  and  we  all  pro- 
nounced them  to  be  delicious,  and  besides  they  remind 
me  of  old  friends  and  old  times.  Please  accept  my  sin- 
cere thanks. 

Mr.  Selous  was  fortunate  in  placing  himself  in  your 
hands  when  he  determined  to  go  on  a  hunting  expedi- 
tion. He  is  known  as  a  great  Nimrod,  and  will  return 

207 


Lord  Strathcona 

to  his  friends  in  England  with  a  goodly  appreciation 
of  the  sport  which  is  to  be  had  in  Canada.  His  success 
will,  no  doubt,  induce  others  of  our  English  friends  to 
follow  his  example.  Should  he  be  in  Montreal  while  I 
am  still  in  Canada  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  see  him. 

My  wife  was  very  anxious  to  take  the  trip  with  me, 
but  although  she  is  stronger  and  in  better  health  than 
she  has  been  for  some  time  back,  at  the  time  I  left  she 
had  a  slight  cold,  and  the  doctors  thought  it  safer  that 
she  should  not  undertake  the  journey  at  this  season  of 
the  year.  We  hope,  however,  to  be  back  in  Canada 
soon,  and  for  a  longer  stay,  which  will  enable  us,  we 
trust,  to  see  yourself  and  many  of  our  old  friends  again 
as  in  the  past. 

22d  February,  1902. 

Mr.  Donald  McTavish,  who  has  done  so  well  at 
Rupert's  House,  will  no  doubt  give  a  good  account  of 
his  stewardship  at  Norway  House  as  well,  as  he  is 
both  painstaking  and  energetic.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  Mr.  James  McDougall's  health  makes  it  necessary 
for  him  to  retire  from  the  service,  as  we  all  know 
what  an  efficient  officer  he  has  been  for  the  Company. 

nth  June,  1902. 

We  shall  also  be  happy  to  see  our  friends  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  William  Clark,  who,  I  believe,  are  expected  here 
about  the  lyth  instant.  He  has  been  fortunate  in  many 
ways  as  an  officer,  and  we  all  know  how  devoted  he  has 
been  to  his  duties,  and  how  well  he  has  discharged 
them. 

To  Ex- Chief  Factor  MacFarlane 

1 7th  May,  1902. 

I  now  have  much  pleasure  in  informing  you  that  the 
Lords  Commissioner  of  the  Admiralty  have,  after  care- 

2O3 


Mr.  Colin  Rankin 

ful  looking  into  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  decided 
to  award  you  the  decoration  in  recognition  of  your 
valuable  services,  now  a  good  many  years  ago.  The 
medal  is  forwarded  herewith,  and  I  am  informed  that 
it  is  of  the  same  pattern  as  those  issued  in  1859  to  such 
of  the  crew  of  the  Fox  discovery  ship  who  had  not 
already  received  it.  No  other  naval  medal  was  awarded 
for  Arctic  service  until  1876. 

June  nth,  1902. 

I  have  just  heard  that  His  Grace  of  Rupert's  Land 
arrived  in  London  yesterday,  and  I  shall  take  great 
pleasure  in  going  to  see  him,  and  of  being  of  use  to  him 
in  any  way  I  can. 

Thank  you  very  much  for  sending  me  the  number  of 
the  Manitoba  Historical  Society's  Transactions  con- 
taining an  obituary  notice  by  yourself  of  our  friend,  the 
late  Peter  Warren  Bell.  Poor  Bell  was  a  good  and  staunch 
friend,  and  no  one  deplored  his  sad  death  more  than  I.1 

To  Mr.  Rankin,  a  survivor  amongst  his  old 
associates,  he  wrote  not  long  before  his  death :  — 

GROSVENOR  SQUARE,  LONDON,  isth  July,  1913. 

Your  name  brings  back  many  pleasant  recollections 
of  a  long  while  ago,  when  we  saw  so  much  of  each  other, 
and  it  would  be  a  great  gratification  to  me  that  we 
should  come  together  again  and  have  a  long  chat  about 
Hudson's  Bay  matters  and  other  things  in  which  we 
are  mutually  interested. 

I  hope  you  may  be  visiting  England  before  long,  and 
pray  feel  assured  that  you  will  have  a  cordial  welcome 
from  my  wife,  Mrs.  Howard,  and  myself,  and  all  the 
members  of  our  family  circle. 

1  He  was  drowned  in  British  Columbia. 
209 


Lord  Strathcona 

To  sum  up,  as  an  entity  possessing  any  real  con- 
nection with  the  past,  the  old  Company  had  been 
moribund  for  years,  and  its  life  flickered  out  alto- 
gether when  Lord  Strathcona  died.  For  him  the 
fiction  was  kept  up:  the  old  forms  were  maintained. 
But  he  knew  it  was  all  pretence.  Behind  the  stately 
mask  were  the  pert  and  simpering  features  of  a 
Kensington  draper.  To  show  to  what  base  uses  the 
ancient  coat  of  arms,  the  boast  of  many  generations 
of  proud  and  sturdy  wilderness  adventurers,  could 
be  put,  the  following  advertisement,  one  amongst 
thousands,  will  suffice.  I  reproduce  it  literally  on 
the  page  opposite. 

This  to-day  is  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  — 

Mrs.  B and  Miss  M ,  with  their 

"powers  of  design"  and  their  "shirt-waists,"  and 
the  London  shareholders,  with  their  two  hundred 
per  cent,  from  the  land  won  by  those  stern  and 
rugged  God-fearing  pioneers,  who  laboured  and 
suffered  and  won  this  heritage,  whose  descendants 
are,  many  of  them,  to-day  dwelling  in  privation  and 
penury.1 

"  A  Timon  you!  Nay,  nay,  for  shame! 
It  looks  too  arrogant  a  jest  — 
The  fierce  old  man  —  to  take  his  name, 
You  bandbox.  Off,  and  let  him  rest. 

The  old  Timon,  with  his  noble  heart 
That  strongly  loathing,  greatly  broke." 2 

1  In  his  will  Lord  Strathcona  bequeathed  fifty  pounds  a  year  as 
an  addition  to  the  pensions  of  certain  of  his  old  colleagues  in  the  fur- 
trade. 

*  Tennyson. 

2IO 


HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY 
Incorporated  1670 


A  FEW  WORDS 
ON  MILLINERY 

Mrs.  B ,  who  has  been  with  the  Company  for  the 

past  six  years,  still  retains  charge  of  the  Department.  The 
Company  has  secured  the  services  of  one  of  the  best  trim- 
mers in  the  country,  and  a  combination  of  Mrs.  B 's 

power  of  design,  and  Miss  M 's  ability  in  carrying  the 

same  into  effect,  will  enable  them,  as  usual,  to  offer  for  in- 
spection a  selection  of  the  latest  up-to-date  Millinery.  The 
opening  will  take  place  on 

TUESDAY,  THE  24111  MARCH 

and  following  days. 

Small  hats  and  Turbans,  prettily  trimmed  with  flowers, 
will  have  the  lead  for  early  spring  wear. 

As  long  as  shirt-waists  are  worn,  Sailor  Hats  will  accom- 
pany them,  and  we  have  never  before  been  able  to  offer  the 
same  variety  in  price  and  style. 


Lord  Strathcona 


NOTE  TO  CHAPTER  XX 

From  the  Coalition  in  1821  to  1905,  when  the  last 
fur-trade  commission  was  issued,  the  number  of  com- 
missions issued  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was :  — 

5  Inspecting  Chief  Factorships. 
103  Chief  Factorships. 

38  Factors. 
208  Chief  Traders. 

62  Junior  Traders. 

416  Total. 

During  this  period  262  received  (so  far  as  can  be 
ascertained)  promotion  in  the  service.  A  calculation 
of  the  "Imperial  relationship"  yields  the  following 
interesting  result:  — 

55  of  the  wintering  partners  were  of  English  birth  or  extraction. 

16  "     "  "  "     "  Irish  birth  or  extraction. 

II"     "  "     "  French-Canadian  birth  or  ex- 

traction. 

no"     "  "    "  Highland  and  Canadian  Scot- 

tish birth  or  extraction. 

70  "     "  "    "  Orcadian  and  Lowland  Scot- 

tish birth  or  extraction. 

262  Total. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  HIGH  COMMISSIONERSHIP 
1896-1897 

WHATEVER  the  issue  might  be,  Sir  Donald 
Smith  had  vastly  enhanced  his  already  high  posi- 
tion in  the  country.  It  has  already  been  shown  in 
a  previous  chapter  that  the  Bowell  Administra- 
tion was  in  serious  difficulties.  Parliament  would 
expire  by  effluxion  of  time  in  June  and  a  great 
effort  must  be  made  by  the  Conservative  Party  in 
the  ensuing  elections.  A  call  had  therefore  been  is- 
sued to  the  veteran  Sir  Charles  Tupper  to  come 
over  to  help  them.  He  had  responded  with  alacrity. 
Should  he  or  should  he  not  resign  the  High  Com- 
missionership  was  the  question.  A  decision  was 
soon  taken.  If  his  party  won  at  the  polls,  Sir 
Charles  would  certainly  enter  office  as  Prime  Min- 
ister, if  he  did  not  do  so  before ;  if  his  party  lost,  it 
was  incredible  that  he  would  be  continued  in  office 
as  High  Commissioner  by  the  Liberals.  Whom  to 
appoint  as  his  successor  was  a  more  difficult  prob- 
lem. Various  names  were  canvassed:  meanwhile, 
Sir  Charles,  before  leaving  England,  had  been  in- 
formed that  the  member  for  Montreal  West  would 
accept  the  post. 

"When  I  heard  Sir  Donald  Smith's  name  men- 
tioned for  the  High  Commissionership,"  states 

213 


Lord  Strathcona 

Sir  Mackenzie  Bowell,  "I  confess  I  was  surprised. 
1  He  won't  take  it,'  I  immediately  said.  However,  I 
made  the  offer  and  it  was  accepted." 

There  were,  indeed,  some  grounds  for  the  then 
Prime  Minister's  surprise  and  incredulity.  Sir 
Donald  Smith  was  in  his  seventy-sixth  year.  He 
had  led  an  unusually  arduous  life,  frequently  over- 
taxing his  strength;  he  had  acquired  vast  wealth, 
and  was  naturally  credited  with  a  desire  for  rest  and 
ease  in  retirement.  No  man  then  living  in  Canada 
could  look  back  on  a  more  notable  and  successful 
career.  Truly,  the  ways  of  destiny  are  inscrutable. 
For  Donald  Alexander  Smith,  at  the  age  when 
decrepitude  has  overtaken  the  generality  of  man- 
kind, a  fresh  and  more  splendid  career  was  dawn- 
ing. All  that  he  had  done  hitherto  would  be  eclipsed 
—  all  that  he  had  been  hitherto  would  be  taken 
vaguely  on  trust.  His  world-wide  fame  and  that 
great  and  prolonged  service  which  was  to  make 
Canada  his  everlasting  debtor,  were  both  shrouded 
in  the  mists  of  futurity. 

To  him  a  close  personal  friend  had  written  in 
April :  — 

It  is  rumoured  that  you  have  been  offered  the  High 
Commissionership  in  London.  I  hope  it  is  not  true 
that  you  have  accepted  the  post.  It  would,  in  my 
opinion,  be  a  fatal  mistake  —  fatal  to  your  peace  of 
mind,  to  your  health,  and  also  to  your  fame  and  hap- 
piness. Moreover,  it  will  prove  to  be  but  an  empty 
honour  and  your  enforced  retirement  in  a  few  months 
will  surely  follow.  Mackenzie  Bowell  cannot  possibly 
carry  on  and  Laurier  will  come  in.  If  you  accept,  you 

214 


Appointed  High  Commissioner 

are  laying  up  a  fresh  sorrow  for  your  old  age.    But,  of 
course,  you  have  thought  of  all  that. 

Sir  Donald  was  sworn  in  as  High  Commissioner 
and  a  Privy  Councillor  on  April  24,  1896. 

The  appointment  drew  forth  the  high  commend- 
ation of  both  political  parties.  He  was  admittedly 
Canada's  foremost  citizen,  and  in  his  new  sphere 
was  expected  to  do  much  to  assist  in  bringing 
the  Colonies  into  closer  touch  with  the  Mother 
Country.  His  reputation  and  position  in  finance 
made  him  additionally  persona  grata  in  commercial 
circles.  His  acceptance  of  the  High  Commissioner- 
ship  would  not,  he  found  it  necessary  to  announce, 
affect  his  position  as  President  of  the  Bank  of  Mon- 
treal and  Governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

Sir  Donald  Smith  [commented  the  well-informed 
London  Chronicle}  will  make  an  almost  ideal  Canadian 
High  Commissioner.  He  is  the  most  large-hearted  of 
Canadians,  and  though  a  nominal  supporter  of  the 
Government  now  in  power  at  Ottawa,  he  cares  very 
little  for  party  distinctions,  and  has  probably  as  many 
friends  among  the  Liberals  as  among  the  Conserva- 
tives. He  has  abundant  wealth,  reaped  in  such  enter- 
prises as  the  railways  which  have  opened  up  the  West- 
ern States  and  the  prairie  regions  of  the  Canadian 
North-West.  Most  tourists  in  Canada  know  with 
what  a  lavish  hand  he  dispenses  hospitality  at  his 
Montreal  mansion  in  Dorchester  Street  and  his  once 
famous  Winnipeg  residence,  "Silver  Heights."  Last 
year  Sir  Donald  became  a  host  in  this  country,  for  he  is 
now  the  proud  possessor  of  the  historic  pass  of  Glencoe. 

215 


Lord  Strathcona 

Other  newspapers  spoke  in  the  same  strain  when 
welcoming  the  new  Canadian  representative,  and 
he  received  numerous  letters  exhibiting  the  esteem 
in  which  he  was  held  by  many  English  friends. 
Nevertheless,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  to  the 
masses  in  Britain  Sir  Donald  Smith  in  1896  was  not 
even  a  name.  Canada  herself  was  on  the  threshold 
of  that  Imperial  celebrity  and  material  success 
which  was  soon  to  surround  her. 

"Who  is  this  Sir  David  Smith  who  is  to  replace 
our  friend  Tupper?"  wrote  a  usually  well-informed 
ex-Cabinet  Minister  to  the  Honourable  Edward 
Blake,  who  had  now  transferred  himself  to  an  Irish 
constituency. 

To  the  varied  illustrations  of  romance  in  the 
careers  of  notable  men,  this  other  might  be  sug- 
gested —  to  begin  climbing  the  highest  ladder  of 
fame  at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 

What,  it  may  be  asked,  was  the  precise  nature 
of  the  office  to  which  Sir  Donald  had  just  been 
appointed?  Previous  to  1880  Canada  had  been 
represented  in  the  United  Kingdom  by  a  simple 
agent,  Sir  John  Rose.  Early  in  that  year,  Sir  John 
Macdonald  resolved  to  put  the  office  of  agent  for 
Canada  in  London  on  a  more  satisfactory  footing. 

An  act  was,  therefore,  passed  constituting  the 
office  of  High  Commissioner.  In  appointing  Sir 
Alexander  Gait  to  the  post  certain  definite  instruc- 
tions were  formulated  and  approved  by  the  Gov- 
ernor-General. He  was  also  appointed  chief  emi- 
gration agent  for  Canada,  and  he  was  informed  that 
it  was  the  Government's  intention  to  transfer  the 

216 


Salary  of  the  Post 

entire  management  of  the  public  debt  and  corre- 
spondence relating  to  the  finances  of  the  Dominion 
in  London  to  the  High  Commissioner. 

After  a  brief  tenure  of  office,  Sir  Alexander  Gait 
was  succeeded  by  Sir  Charles  Tupper  in  1884. 
With  all  Sir  Charles's  qualities  of  manner  and 
knowledge  which  made  him  so  capital  a  represent- 
ative of  the  country  abroad,  he  was,  it  must  be 
avowed,  far  too  keen  a  politician  and  followed  far 
too  ardently  his  instincts  of  combat  to  be  quite 
acceptable  to  both  political  parties  in  Canada. 
Moreover,  he  continued,  while  holding  the  High 
Commissionership,  to  be  a  member  of  the  Con- 
servative Ministry,  and  was  therefore  a  fair  target 
for  the  shafts  of  the  Opposition.  One  instance  of 
this  criticism  will  suffice.  There  was  a  proposal  in 
1891  to  raise  the  emolument  of  the  High  Commis- 
sioner to  the  modest  figure  of  $10,000.  "Why," 
asked  one  member,  "should  the  High  Commissioner, 
who  lives  in  England,  and  who,  however  you  may 
attempt  to  surround  the  fact  with  verbiage,  holds 
a  sinecure  very  largely,  have  a  salary  larger  than 
that  of  the  hard- worked  head  of  the  Department? 
What  practical  duties  has  the  High  Commissioner 
discharged  during  the  last  eight  or  ten  years?" 

Another  member  actually  proposed  abolition  of 
the  office ;  while  yet  another  ironically  declared :  — 

The  Minister  of  Finance  has  sought  to  justify  the 
continuance  of  the  office  of  High  Commissioner  on  the 
ground  that  he  has  performed  great  service  in  respect 
to  the  egg  and  poultry  trade.  The  honourable  gentle- 
man has,  however,  undertaken  a  larger  contract  than 

217 


Lord  Strathcona 

even  he  is  capable  of  performing,  if  he  seeks  to  convince 
the  House  that  the  spasmodic  efforts  of  the  High  Com- 
missioner with  respect  to  the  egg  and  poultry  trade  of 
this  Dominion  would  justify  the  payment  of  $18,000  1 
a  year  for  the  continuance  of  the  office.  The  egg  and 
poultry  trade  is  a  very  important  one,  and  its  impor- 
tance has  always  been  recognized  by  the  Opposition. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  part  Sir  Donald 
Smith  took  in  the  debate.  He  said :  — 

The  honourable  gentleman  has  compared  the  emolu- 
ments of  the  High  Commissioner  with  those  of  the 
Honourable  First  Minister  and  the  other  Ministers  of 
the  Crown.  The  honourable  gentleman  does  not  re- 
quire to  be  informed  that  many  representatives  of 
European  nations,  those  in  Austria,  in  France,  in  Rus- 
sia, in  England,  get  much  higher  salaries  than  the 
Prime  Minister  in  any  of  those  countries;  and  that  is 
undoubtedly  consistent  with  their  position,  represent- 
ing, as  they  do,  their  Sovereign,  as  the  High  Commis- 
sioner for  Canada  represents  the  Dominion. 

While  [he  characteristically  continued]  I  have  a 
proper  idea  of  economy,  I  think  that  instead  of  putting 
it  at  $10,000  or  $12,000,  $20,000  would  be  by  no  means 
too  much  to  pay  —  I  am  not  speaking  of  an  individual, 
but  for  the  position  of  the  representative  of  Canada  in 
London.  There  are  many  demands  made  on  any  gen- 
tleman in  that  position,  that  I  think  it  would  be  only 
showing  a  proper  regard  to  the  dignity  and  the  posi- 
tion of  Canada  to  make  a  worthy  allowance  for  the 
High  Commissioner. 

1  Inclusive  of  the  cost  of  an  official  residence  in  Cromwell  Road. 
One  of  Sir  Donald's  first  acts  was  to  dispose  of  this  house,  which  had 
meanwhile  greatly  deteriorated  in  value. 

2l8 


Opposed  to  Parsimony 

I  think  that  it  would  be  really  in  our  own  interests 
that  the  position  of  High  Commissioner  of  Canada  (I 
say  again,  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  individual)  should 
be  made  such  as  to  enable  him  to  entertain,  to  some 
extent,  out  of  the  proceeds  of  his  salary,  as  is  done  by 
almost  all  other  representatives. 

At  the  very  time  he  thus  spoke  there  was  a 
notice  on  the  motion  paper  from  him  in  respect  to 
an  increase  in  the  salaries  of  Canada's  judges. 

I  trust  [he  urged]  this  will  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion by  the  Government,  because  I  think  we  owe  it  to 
ourselves  that  the  salaries  of  our  judges  should  be  in- 
creased. While  I  hope  I  am  actuated  by  a  proper 
desire  for  economy  as  much  as  the  honourable  gentle- 
man or  any  other  member  of  this  House,  I  should 
certainly  not  be  opposed  to  seeing  the  emoluments  of 
the  Ministers  of  the  Crown  as  well  as  the  judges  in- 
creased. At  the  same  time,  we  ought  to  exercise  every 
care  in  introducing  into  every  portion  of  the  Civil 
Service  those  only  who  are  fit  to  do  the  work  to  be 
assigned  to  them.  If  such  care  be  observed,  we  should 
be  able  to  pay  well  all  those  who  are  capable  of  doing, 
and  who  do,  good  work  for  the  Dominion. 

The  suggestion  of  $20,000  a  year  in  addition  to  a 
residence  rudely  shocked  the  Opposition.  As  one 
member  declared:  — 

Before  the  honourable  gentleman  startles  us  with 
such  an  extraordinary  suggestion,  he  must  be  prepared 
to  show  that  our  condition  in  Canada  is  so  essentially 
prosperous  that  we  should  be  justified  in  moving  in  the 
direction  of  increasing  the  salaries  of  our  hard-worked 
officials,  before  we  Increase  those  of  persons  holding 
sinecures. 

219 


Lord  Strathcona 

Another  member  declared  that  he  had  examined 
the  authorities  to  ascertain  what  the  United  States 
of  America  paid  their  Ambassadors  and  Ministers 
abroad.  While  Canada  "virtually"  paid  the  High 
Commissioner  $18,000  a  year,  the  amount  of  sal- 
aries paid  to  the  Ambassadors  of  the  United  States 
to  France,  Great  Britain,  Germany,  and  Russia 
was  only  $17,500.  America  only  paid  $12,000  a 
year  to  her  Ministers  to  Austria,  Brazil,  China, 
Italy,  Japan,  Spain;  to  Turkey,  Chili,  Argentine 
Republic,  United  States  of  Colombia,  and  Peru, 
$10,000;  and  to  Persia,  Portugal,  and  other  smaller 
countries,  $5000.  "So,"  it  was  added  triumphantly, 
"our  High  Commissioner  receives  a  larger  salary 
than  any  of  the  Ambassadors  of  the  United  States 
to  foreign  countries." 

Events  and  changes  were  to  move  rapidly  for- 
ward to  the  time,  twelve  brief  years  later,  when 
one  of  these  very  important  American  Ambassa- 
dors —  no  less  important  than  Mr.  Whitelaw  Reid 
—  was  to  say  publicly  to  an  English  audience :  — 

I  sometimes  think  that  my  office  is  magnified  by 
your  kindness  into  a  greater  than  it  would  be  otherwise, 
and  my  duties,  more  numerous  here  from  the  same 
cause,  would  sometimes  overwhelm  me  if  my  spirit  of 
emulation  were  not  aroused  by  the  constant  spectacle 
of  a  rival.  He,  too,  is  an  Ambassador  of  an  English- 
speaking  Transatlantic  country,  in  extent  equalling  my 
own  and  advancing  by  rapid  strides  to  wealth  and  im- 
portance second  only  to  ourselves  in  the  whole  Western 
world.  Wherever  I  go  there  is  he,  and  to  a  great  many 
functions  I  do  not  go,  he  does.  Yet,  great  as  is  the 

220 


Pacific  Cable  Conference 

country  he  represents,  the  Ambassador  of  the  Domin- 
ion of  Canada  magnifies  his  office.  Beside  his  inde- 
fatigable exertions,  my  own  office  is  a  sinecure. 

It  is  only  just  to  say  that  Canadian  industrial  and 
monetary  conditions  were  at  a  comparatively  low 
ebb  in  the  early  nineties,  and  were  the  representa- 
tive ever  so  persuasive  or  diligent,  the  attractions 
then  offered  by  his  country  were  dubious  and  few. 
Some  there  were  even  amongst  those  in  high  places 
who  despaired  of  the  future.  How  different  was  the 
temper  of  Sir  Donald  Smith!  One  of  his  earliest 
utterances  as  High  Commissioner  was  at  a  ban- 
quet in  connection  with  a  Pacific  Cable  Conference 
in  London  to  which  he  was,  with  Sir  Mackenzie 
Bowell,  a  delegate. 

Responding  to  a  toast  of  "Canada,"  he  said:  — 

Sir  Alexander  Wilson  has  told  you  that  it  was  a 
band  of  merchants  who  gave  to  England  and  the  Em- 
pire the  vast  and  good  country  of  India.  That  was  a 
band  of  merchant  adventurers  trading  into  Hudson's 
Bay.  These  men,  two  years  after  the  East  India  Com- 
pany was  chartered,  also  obtained  a  charter.  The 
whole  of  the  eastern  portion  of  Canada  then  belonged 
to  the  Crown  of  France.  These  merchant  adventurers 
first  entered  Hudson's  Bay.  Then  they  spread  them- 
selves over  the  more  northern  portion  of  the  continent. 
And  what  is  the  country  now?  It  is  a  very  important 
part  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and  in  years  to  come 
will  be  of  still  greater  consequence  to  the  Dominion 
and  to  the  Empire. 

It  is  in  that  country  within  the  last  year  that  a  small 
number  of  fanners  have  produced  no  less  than  thirty 

221 


Lord  Strathcona 

million  bushels  of  wheat,  and  when  that  country  be- 
comes what  it  will  in  a  very  few  years  become,  with  the 
assistance  which  we  are  sure  to  have  from  those  whom 
we  see  here  to-night  and  those  who  have  come  as 
delegates  from  all  parts  of  Great  Britain  and  the 
Empire,  then  that  vast  North- West  of  Canada  will  be 
settled  by  hundreds  of  thousands  and  even  millions  of 
British  subjects. 

Looking  to  the  vast  area  of  the  wheat-fields  in  that 
great  North- West,  and  considering  what  has  already 
been  done  in  the  way  of  wheat  growth,  we  may  look 
forward  with  assurance,  and  that  in  a  short  time,  to 
the  day  when  it  will  produce  and  send  to  England  all 
the  grain  she  may  require.  There  are  in  Canada  those 
who  have  as  loyal  hearts  to  Great  Britain  and  the 
Empire  as  we  find  here  at  home. 

A  reference  to  the  Right  Honourable  Joseph 
Chamberlain  was  received  with  loud  cheers:  — 

We  in  Canada  have  the  greatest  satisfaction  in  know- 
ing that  there  is  at  the  present  moment  at  the  head  of 
the  Colonial  Department  one  who  has  given  his  heart 
thoroughly  to  the  work  of  making  a  great  Empire,  and 
knitting  together  every  part  of  the  Empire  so  that 
"  Imperialism"  shall  be  not  merely  a  "movement," 
not  simply  a  flash  in  the  pan,  —  but  that  we  shall 
continue  steadily  growing  as  an  Empire  of  Englishmen 
with  the  aspirations  and  determination  of  all  to  do 
their  part  in  keeping  their  heritage  intact  and  perpetu- 
ating its  glories  for  all  time.  I  may  say  for  Canada  that 
its  Government  and  people  will  be  foremost  to  come  to 
the  right  honourable  gentleman  and  ask  him  to  take 
steps  that  there  may  be  a  gathering  of  the  different 
parts  of  the  Empire  in  England  to  devise  some  means 

222 


Speech  in  England 


of  satisfying  every  portion  of  the  Queen's  dominions  in 
respect  of  commerce  and  the  intercourse  between  all 
parts  of  the  Empire.  We  shall  be  only  too  glad  to  knit 
the  bonds  still  closer  with  the  great  Empire  of  which 
we  are  proud. 

People  had  asked  him  [he  said]  upon  what  he  based 
his  opinion  of  Canada's  coming  greatness.  What  is 
this  Dominion?  It  is  a  country  of  three  and  a  half 
million  square  miles — about  half  of  North  America. 
It  is  true  that  at  the  present  moment  we  have  not  a 
very  large  population,  for  I  think  we  are  outnumbered 
by  the  population  of  London  and  its  suburbs,  but  we 
have  at  least  five  millions  of  people,  all  of  whom  are  as 
loyal  to  our  Queen  and  to  the  Empire  as  any  to  be 
found  in  the  heart  of  the  Empire.  Canada  has  at  pres- 
ent a  revenue  of  $334,000,000.  It  has  railways  extend- 
ing over  16,000  miles.  It  has  a  shipping  tonnage  of 
879,000,  being  in  that  respect  fifth  among  the  nations. 
Not  only  so,  but  it  produces  wheat  in  very  large  quan- 
tities and  of  the  very  best  quality.  In  the  North- West 
they  last  year  produced  no  less  than  33,000,000  bushels 
of  wheat  and  upwards  of  20,000,000  bushels  of  other 
grains.  But  this  is  not  all.  We  have  a  country  which  in 
many  of  the  eastern  parts  is  rich  in  minerals,  but  when 
you  cross  the  mountains,  you  find  in  British  Columbia 
abundance  of  both  gold  and  silver,  as  well  as  of  the 
baser  metals.  We  have  in  the  prairies  what  is  of  the 
greatest  use  to  the  settler  —  coal  in  unlimited  quanti- 
ties. At  one  time  it  was  supposed  that  there  could  be 
no  large  centres  of  population  in  the  North-West  be- 
cause there  was  so  little  fuel  —  so  little  timber;  but  it 
has  since  been  found  that  throughout  the  whole  of  that 
great  district  coal  exists  in  the  greatest  abundance. 
Thus,  having  gold  and  silver,  iron  and  copper,  and  the 

223 


Lord  Strathcona 

greatest  abundance  of  fuel,  we  can  look  forward  to  a 
great  future  for  that  country. 

While  [he  said]  Canada  still  looks  to  England  for  aid 
in  her  difficulties,  we  feel  that  we  ought  to  have  inde- 
pendence to  help  ourselves  to  the  utmost,  and  that  in 
helping  ourselves  we  shall  also  be  doing  a  great  and 
good  work  for  the  Mother  Country,  and  for  the  knitting 
together  of  all  the  Colonies  and  the  Mother  Land  into 
one  great  Empire,  and  the  creation  of  a  power  which 
will  command,  that  England  and  the  Empire  shall  be 
still  more  and  more  respected  by  all  nations.  In  no 
part  of  the  Empire  is  there  more  affection  for  the  Old 
Country  than  in  Canada,  or  a  greater  willingness  to  do 
our  part  in  the  work  of  consolidation.  And  I  think  I 
should  add  that  this  is  the  case,  not  only  with  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking people  of  Canada,  but  equally  with  our 
fellow-countrymen  who  speak  French.  As  was  said 
many  years  ago  by  a  citizen  of  that  country,  a  French- 
Canadian  is  an  Englishman  to  the  core,  who  speaks 
French.  Another  statesman  declared  that  the  last  shot 
fired  on  the  North  American  continent  for  the  British 
Empire  and  for  England  would  be  fired  by  a  French- 
Canadian.  It  will  be,  we  hope  and  believe,  years,  gen- 
erations, centuries,  before  there  is  any  possibility  of 
it  being  necessary  to  fire  this  last  shot,  for  we  believe 
that  there  is  a  feeling  in  Canada,  and  in  the  whole 
Empire,  which  will  conserve  that  country  to  England 
as  surely  as  the  different  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom 
are  concerned. 

But  a  more  notable  public  appearance  occurred 
in  the  early  days  of  June  at  the  Congress  of  Cham- 
bers of  Commerce  of  the  Empire,  to  which  he  was 
a  delegate.  Here  he  sounded  for  the  first  time  that 

224 


Imperial  Chambers  of  Commerce 

note  of  practical  Imperialism  which  Joseph  Cham- 
berlain emitted  with  his  latest  breath.  Sir  Donald 
ardently  hoped  for  preferential  trade  within  the 
Empire,  but  political  considerations  soon  made  his 
championship  of  the  proposal  incompatible  with 
his  tenure  of  a  non-political  office. 

The  Toronto  Board  of  Trade  had  offered  a  reso- 
lution, to  which  Sir  Donald  proposed  the  following 
amendment :  — 

Whereas,  the  stability  and  progress  of  the  British 
Empire  can  be  best  assured  by  drawing  continually 
closer  the  bonds  that  unite  the  Colonies  with  the 
Mother  Country,  and  by  the  continuous  growth  of  a 
practical  sympathy  and  cooperation  in  all  that  per- 
tains to  the  common  welfare;  and  whereas,  this  coop- 
eration and  unity  can  in  no  way  be  more  effectually 
promoted  than  by  the  cultivation  and  extension  of  the 
mutual  and  profitable  interchange  of  their  products; 
therefore,  resolved,  That  this  Congress  records  its 
belief  in  the  advisability  and  practicability  of  a  customs 
arrangement  between  Great  Britain  and  her  Colonies 
and  India  on  the  basis  of  preferential  treatment,  and 
recommends  that  steps  should  be  taken  by  Her  Ma- 
jesty's Government  to  bring  about  an  interchange  of 
opinions  on  the  subject  between  the  Mother  Country 
and  the  other  Governments  of  the  Empire. 

In  the  course  of  his  speech  Sir  Donald  remarked 
that  in  moving  his  amendment  he  did  so  in  no 
spirit  of  opposition  to  the  previous  proposal  of  the 
Toronto  delegation. 

I  am,  indeed,  acting  in  unison  with  my  friends  from 
Toronto  and  other  Canadian  representatives.  My 

225 


Lord  Strathcona 

object  is  to  place  before  this  Congress  a  resolution 
which  represents,  I  hope,  the  views  of  all  the  Canadian 
delegates  and  will  receive  their  support,  and  thus  ren- 
der more  or  less  unnecessary  the  discussion  of  the  other 
resolutions  of  a  similar  nature  which  are  on  the  paper. 
We  hope  also  that  the  terms  of  the  amendment  are 
such  as  will  commend  themselves  to  our  friends  from 
Australasia,  from  South  Africa,  and  the  other  Colonies, 
and  we  are  not  without  hope  that  it  may  commend 
itself  to  the  representatives  of  the  commercial  interests 
of  the  United  Kingdom  who  are  present  to-day.  What 
we  are  striving  for  here  is  not  the  discussion  of  the  de- 
tails of  a  commercial  arrangement  between  the  Mother 
Country  and  the  other  Colonies.  That  must  be  left  to 
the  Government  of  the  different  parts  of  the  Empire 
to  formulate  and  arrange.  What  we  want  to  do  is  to 
secure  the  acceptance  by  this  Congress  of  the  principle 
that  has  been  in  one  way  and  another  so  ably  advo- 
cated. It  has  also  been  discussed  by  the  Canadian  Par- 
liament, by  Boards  of  Trade  and  Chambers  of  Com- 
merce in  Canada,  in  South  Africa  and  Australasia,  and 
also  in  other  Colonies.  But  the  third  paragraph  of  the 
Amendment  takes  us  a  step  further,  and  the  principle 
being  conceded,  Her  Majesty's  Government  are  to  be 
requested  to  approach  the  other  Governments  of  the 
Empire  with  a  view  to  the  interchange  of  opinions  on 
this  important  subject,  which  is  very  closely  connected 
with  the  future  development  of  the  trade  and  com- 
merce of  this  great  Empire. 

If  Her  Majesty's  Government  will  grasp  the  matter 
boldly  and  invite  an  expression  of  opinion  from  the 
Governments  of  the  Colonies,  we  are  not  without  hope 
that  it  may  lead  to  the  calling  together  of  another  great 
Conference  in  London,  where  the  details  of  a  measure 

226 


Practical  Imperialism 

satisfactory  to  the  Colonies  and  the  United  Kingdom 
might  be  discussed  and  arranged. 

Lord  Salisbury  had  said  that  in  the  closer  union 
between  the  Mother  Country  and  the  Colonies  was 
involved  nothing  more  or  less  than  the  future  of  the 
British  Empire.  Mr.  Goschen  had  said  that  he  thought 
it  possible  that  the  advantages  of  the  commercial  con- 
solidation of  the  Empire  might  be  so  great  that  in  cer- 
tain circumstances  no  objection  would  be  raised  to  it. 
Lord  Rosebery,  in  one  of  his  speeches  declared:  "It 
is,  as  I  believe,  impossible  for  you  to  maintain  in  the 
long  run  your  present  loose  and  imperfect  relations  to 
your  Colonies."  You  know  the  extent  and  importance 
of  the  Colonial  trade  at  present:  and  you  must  have  an 
idea  of  the  extent  to  which  it  is  bound  to  develop  in  the 
future.  We  have  immense  British  territories  all  over 
the  world,  and  their  progress  is  only  just  commencing. 
I  think  these  facts  are  an  argument  in  themselves  for 
the  formulation  of  closer  and  more  intimate  commer- 
cial arrangements  between  the  different  parts  of  the 
Empire  than  exist  at  present. 

We  all,  here  and  overseas,  have  a  common  origin, 
a  common  history,  a  common  language,  a  common  lit- 
erature, a  common  love  of  liberty  and  law,  common 
principles  to  assert,  and  common  interests  to  maintain. 
And,  gentlemen,  we  have  all  a  common  love  for  and 
loyalty  to  the  British  Crown  and  the  British  connec- 
tion. Why,  therefore,  cannot  we  have  some  arrange- 
ment of  the  nature  sketched  in  outline  in  the  amend- 
ment I  am  now  proposing?  Why  should  every  part  of 
the  Empire  in  matters  of  commerce  treat  every  other 
part  of  the  Empire  as  they  do  foreign  countries? 
Gentlemen,  union  is  strength.  We  have  competitors 
everywhere,  and  if  we  hope  to  compete  with  them  not 

227 


Lord  Strathcona 

only  within  but  without  the  Empire,  we  must  look 
after  what  we  conceive  to  be  our  common  interests. 

I  think  it  will  be  generally  admitted  that  they  look 
after  theirs.  I  have  already  said  that  we  do  not  want 
to  enter  into  details.  We  do  not  wish  to  get  into  a  dis- 
cussion on  abstract  free  trade  or  protection.  We  have 
other  and  higher  objects  to  attain,  —  the  closer  com- 
mercial unity  of  this  great  Empire,  —  and  those  who 
run  may  read,  not  only  the  issues  that  are  at  stake  at 
the  present  time,  but  the  very  much  greater  issues  that 
must  make  themselves  apparent  in  the  near  future. 
I  do  not  think  there  is  anything  in  a  moderate  scheme 
of  preferential  treatment  which  need  shock  any  rea- 
sonable economic  theories,  neither  is  it  likely  to  lead 
to  retaliation.  We  have  as  much  right  to  treat  trade 
within  the  Empire  on  a  preferential  basis  as  the 
various  foreign  countries  with  colonies  have  to  give 
to  and  receive  from  their  colonies  preferential  treat- 
ment. 

Germany  cannot  reasonably  object  to  such  a  propo- 
sition; neither  can  the  United  States,  because  they 
have  adopted  it  already  themselves;  and  the  same 
remark  applies  to  Norway  and  Sweden.  Therefore, 
gentlemen,  I  commend  this  amendment  very  heartily 
and  cordially  to  your  acceptance.  I  am  sure  its  adop- 
tion would  cause  much  gratification  in  the  Colonies, 
and  I  believe  among  no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  pop- 
ulation of  the  United  Kingdom.  It  would  also  encour- 
age Her  Majesty's  Government  to  take  steps  to  secure 
a  modification  of  those  unlucky  treaties  with  Belgium 
and  Germany  which  in  their  present  form  block  the 
way  to  any  inter- Imperial  arrangement.  After  looking 
into  the  matter,  I  do  not  think  there  would  be  any 
great  difficulty  in  bringing  about  the  modification  we 

228 


For  Closer  Union 

desire.  I  will  only  say,  in  conclusion,  that  the  terms 
of  the  amendment  are  very  elastic  in  their  nature. 
What  we  are  striving  for  is  some  plan  which  may  the 
least  upset  the  fiscal  system  in  force  in  the  United 
Kingdom  and  in  the  Colonies,  and  I  believe  that  such 
a  scheme  could  readily  be  arranged.  It  would  certainly 
mean  great  things  for  the  Empire  —  a  closer  sentimen- 
tal and  fiscal  union  than  at  present,  and  the  retention 
of  the  Colonial  markets  for  British  goods  for  all  time. 
It  would  stimulate  the  development  of  the  Colonies, 
provide  larger  markets  for  British  products,  and  insure 
larger  supplies  of  food  products  from  British  territories. 
These  are  only  a  few  of  the  consequences  that  would 
inevitably  follow  the  closer  union  of  the  different  parts 
of  the  Empire,  and  they  are  surely  worthy  of  some  sac- 
rifices on  both  sides.  The  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Colonies  has  said  that  there  is  on  one  side  free  trade, 
and  protection  on  the  other,  but  he  has  pointed  out 
another  way,  and  I  think  in  that  direction  we  may 
come  together.  To  do  so  it  is  necessary  that  there 
should  not  only  be  discussion,  but  that  either  the 
Colonies  should  approach  the  Home  Government  or 
that  the  Mother  Country  should  approach  the  Col- 
onies, to  ascertain  how  far  each  is  willing  and  prepared 
to  go  in  the  way  of  a  Zollverein,  that  there  may  be  one 
feeling  and  one  action  throughout.  While  proud  to  be 
a  native  of  the  United  Kingdom,  I  am  still  more  proud 
to  be  a  Canadian,  and  that  is,  I  may  say,  the  feeling 
of  the  vast  majority  of  the  Canadian  people.  There 
is  every  desire  to  bring  us  closer  and  closer  to  the 
Mother  Land,  and  that  we  shall  in  the  end  —  and  we 
trust  it  may  be  in  a  very  short  time  —  feel  that 
we  are  one  people,  Britons,  throughout  the  British 
Empire. 

229 


Lord  Strathcona 

This  speech  created  an  ineffaceable  impression.1 
Mr.  Chamberlain  was  amongst  the  first  to  con- 
gratulate the  High  Commissioner.  They  met  fre- 
quently, both  in  public  and  privately,  and  a  warm 
friendship  sprang  up  between  them. 

Sir  Donald  went  to  Glasgow  in  the  middle  of 
June  to  take  part  in  the  celebration  of  his  friend 
Lord  Kelvin's  jubilee.  Canada  had  taken  so  promi- 
nent a  part  in  the  progress  of  ocean  telegraphy  that 
it  was  most  fitting  for  her  High  Commissioner  to 
do  honour  to  the  William  Thompson  whose  in- 
vestigations made  possible  the  first  Atlantic  cable 
of  1858. 

Look  [he  said]  at  the  telegraphic  map  of  to-day,  and 
you  realize  how  vital  is  Canadian  cooperation  in  the 
telegraphic  connections  of  the  Old  World  and  the  New. 
The  day  will  soon  come  when  these  Atlantic  lines  will 
be  but  the  first  link  in  truly  Imperial  lines  which  will 
make  Canada  the  halfway  house  of  the  telegraphs  of 
the  Empire.  In  doing  honour  to  Lord  Kelvin,  Cana- 
dians do  not,  moreover,  forget  that  he  was  the  first, 
in  conjunction  with  the  late  Sir  William  Siemens,  to 
suggest  the  conversion  of  the  energy  of  Niagara  into 
electric  power.  That  Niagara  conversion  is  but  the 
beginning  of  a  widespread  harnessing  of  water-power 
in  Canada,  as  well  as  in  all  North  America. 

1  Amongst  those  who  listened  to  the  speech  was  the  late  W.  T. 
Stead,  who  wrote : "  In  the  vigour,  the  youthful  freshness,  the  massive 
head  crowned  by  the  glistening  snows,  I  seemed  to  see  the  great 
Dominion  of  Canada  incarnate,  and  in  his  language  I  heard  the 
Canadian  creed  of  hope,  self-confidence,  and  loyalty."  It  was  Mr. 
A.  G.  Gardiner,  editor  of  the  Daily  News,  who  afterwards  wrote  of 
Lord  Strathcona  as  "Canada  in  a  swallow-tail  coat." 

230 


The  New  Premier 

On  the  afternoon  of  Dominion  Day  their  first 
reception  was  given  by  the  High  Commissioner  for 
Canada,  and  Lady  Smith,  in  celebration  of  the  day 
at  the  Imperial  Institute.  The  guests  numbered 
between  five  and  six  hundred,  and  a  feature  of  the 
occasion,  then  as  afterwards,  was  that  the  music 
was  supplied  by  Canadian  musicians  studying  in 
Europe,  to  whom  he  was  ever  a  patron. 

The  elections  in  Canada  were  by  this  time  tak- 
ing place.  Sir  Mackenzie  Bowell  had  previously 
yielded  the  Premiership  to  Sir  Charles  Tupper,  who 
fought  valiantly  on  the  hustings  to  retain  it.  But 
the  verdict  of  the  country  was  against  him,  and 
after  eighteen  years'  exclusion  the  Liberals  returned 
to  power. 

There  was  much  speculation  as  to  what  effect 
this  would  have  on  Sir  Donald's  retention  of  his 
office. 

If  [commented  the  World]  Mr.  Laurier  has  the  in- 
terests of  his  country  at  heart  he  will  make  no  change 
in  the  British  High  Commissionership.  That  office 
is  now  filled  by  a  gentleman  who,  of  all  Canadians,  is 
best  qualified  for  the  position.  Sir  Donald  A.  Smith 
is  probably  the  best-known  Colonial  in  London.  He  is 
in  touch  with  all  great  movements  in  which  Canada 
is  interested.  Furthermore,  he  is  a  man  of  wealth,  and 
is  thereby  enabled  to  create  an  impression  on  the 
British  public  which  another  representative  might  not 
be  able  to  effect. 

But  the  new  Canadian  Prime  Minister  needed  no 
prompting  of  this  kind.  He  wrote  at  once  to  Sir 
Donald  expressing  his  hope  that  the  result  of  the 

231 


Lord  Strathcona 

elections  would  make  no  difference  in  the  former's 
retention  of  the  post. 

BROWN'S  HOTEL,  DOVER  STREET,  LONDON, 

1 5th  July,  1896. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  LAURIER:  — 

Your  most  kind  letter  of  the  3d  July  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  receiving  to-day,  only  in  time  to  send  a 
line  in  acknowledgment  by  this  morning's  mail  and 
to  thank  you,  which  I  do  very  heartily  for  it. 

Although  a  Liberal-Conservative,  an  independent 
one  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word,  it  affords  me  much 
gratification,  as  one  who  was  happy  to  count  you  a 
personal  friend,  to  congratulate  you  on  the  result  of 
the  elections,  as  I  had  the  most  complete  confidence 
that  the  best  interests  of  your  country  would  in  every 
way  be  safe  in  your  hands. 

I  have  a  very  pleasant  and  grateful  recollection  of 
the  assurance  you  were  good  enough  to  give  me  in 
March,  that  of  your  utmost  aid  in  disposing  satisfac- 
torily of  the  vexed  questions  of  Manitoba  Schools, 
which  had  it  been  properly  handled  was  capable  of 
settlement  long  ago.  You  may  feel  assured  that  if  in 
any  way  I  can  assist  in  arriving  at  a  result  so  much  to 
be  wished  for,  my  best  services  will  always  be  at  your 
command. 

I  write  in  much  haste,  but  believe  me  to  be,  etc., 

DONALD  A.  SMITH. 

The  same  day,  on  being  summoned  to  Windsor 
Castle  to  a  private  investiture,  he  received  the 
order  of  the  Knight  Grand  Cross  of  the  Order  of 
St.  Michael  and  St.  George,  of  which  order  he  had 
been  a  member  for  ten  years.  Sir  Donald,  on  the 
1 8th  July,  sailed  for  Canada  in  company  with  Sir 

232 


SIR   DONALD   A.    SMITH,  G.C.M.G., 


Royal  Victoria  College 

Mackenzie  Bowell,  his  late  colleague  in  the  Pacific 
Cable  Conference. 

Before  leaving  for  London  in  May  he  had  added 
another  to  the  magnificent  series  of  benefactions 
which  he  had  already  conferred  upon  Montreal,  in 
the  building  of  the  Royal  Victoria  College  for 
the  Higher  Education  of  Women.  The  establish- 
ment of  this  institution  introduced  a  new  feature 
into  Montreal  university  life  —  a  feature  which  has 
very  great  attractions  for  the  majority  of  students, 
and  which  has  long  been  looked  upon  as  a  desidera- 
tum by  a  large  proportion  of  university  men.  The 
Victoria  College  would  be  essentially  a  residential 
institution,  as  are  the  colleges  of  the  British  uni- 
versities, having  only  subsidiary  arrangements  for 
teaching  apart  from  those  which  its  students  would 
enjoy  as  members  of  the  university. 

It  is  looked  upon  by  many  [said  the  Witness  news- 
paper] as  only  the  beginning  of  the  residential  system 
carried  out  under  the  wise  direction  of  the  greatest 
friend  of  higher  education  that  Canada  has  known. 

Great  care  was  exercised  to  have  the  interior 
appointments  of  Victoria  College  as  nearly  perfect 
as  possible.  The  building  was  six  stories  in  height, 
and  included,  in  addition  to  the  convocation  hall, 
classrooms  and  residential  quarters,  a  gymnasium, 
reading-room  and  library  for  the  "Donaldas"  (as 
the  female  students  on  the  Donald  A.  Smith 
Foundation  were  already  known).  It  was  expected 
that  the  building  would  be  ready  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  autumn  session  of  the  following  year. 

233 


Lord  Strathcona 

Queen  Victoria  accorded  her  sanction  to  the  title 
and  the  college  was  under  her  patronage. 

The  visit  to  Canada  was  brief.  Sir  Donald  was 
back  in  London  on  August  8,  to  resume  his  duties 
as  High  Commissioner,  having  in  the  intervening 
three  weeks  twice  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  trans- 
acted important  business  at  Ottawa  and  Montreal. 
Soon  after  his  arrival  he  left  to  pass  four  or  five 
days  at  his  new  country-seat  in  Scotland,  after 
which  his  duties  as  lecturer  and  interpreter  of 
Canada  in  Great  Britain  began  in  earnest.1 

If  the  statistics  into  which  he  was  prone  to  launch 
seem  trite  now,  to  some  of  us,  let  it  be  remembered 
that  they  were  not  so  then.  Vast  audiences,  com- 
prising intelligent  and  well-informed  men  and 
women,  listened  spellbound  to  his  recital  of  the 
advantages  Canada  offered  to  the  immigrant.  To- 
day we  may  smile  —  Europe  knows  the  story  well, 
—  but  how  fresh  and  attractive  it  seemed  in  1896! 

In  no  country  in  the  world  has  an  enterprising  man 
a  greater  chance  of  making  a  success  in  life  than  in  the 
Dominion,  if  he  possesses  the  necessary  qualities;  and 
in  Canada  those  qualities  have  always  the  chance  of 
making  their  influence  felt.  There  is  no  Established 
Church,  and  many  other  questions  which  in  England 
are  still  the  subject  of  controversy  have  settled  them- 
selves long  ago  in  Canada. 

He  pursued  his  policy  of  public  instruction  on 
the  resources  of  Canada  whenever  an  opportunity 

1  "Canada  in  breeches"  was  the  phrase  applied  to  him  by  Mr.  La- 
bouchere,  which  is  reminiscent  of  Sidney  Smith's  remark  concerning 
Daniel  Webster. 

234 


Canada's  Great  Need 

occurred.  No  opportunity  was  too  small  —  and 
the  need  was  great.  One  of  his  first  addresses  was 
at  Newcastle. 

Not  only  in  Canada  [he  said],  but  in  all  the  other 
Colonies,  the  feeling  prevails  that  too  little  is  known 
in  the  United  Kingdom  —  the  heart  of  the  Empire  — 
of  its  outlying  portions,  and  we  are  all  trying  in  every 
way  to  bring  about  a  different  state  of  things.  It  is  no 
selfish  object  which  has  prompted  us  in  our  endeavours. 
We  want  to  bring  the  Colonies  into  closer  relations  with 
the  Mother  Country.  We  wish  to  develop  trade  be- 
tween the  different  parts  of  the  Empire,  as  well  as  with 
other  countries,  and  we  much  appreciate  the  great 
services  of  Mr.  Chamberlain  in  directing  public  atten- 
tion prominently  to  the  matter.  In  the  Colonies  there 
are  millions  upon  millions  of  acres  of  land  only  wait- 
ing to  be  cultivated  to  produce  everything  that  man 
requires,  and  we  want  to  attract  to  those  lands  the 
surplus  capital  and  muscle  of  the  United  Kingdom. 
The  increase  of  the  population  of  the  Colonies  must 
add  to  their  wealth  and  strength,  and  also  to  their 
productive  and  consuming  capacities.  Such  results 
must  necessarily  tend  to  make  the  British  Empire,  of 
which  we  all  are  so  proud,  a  greater  factor  in  the  prog- 
ress of  the  world  than  it  is  even  at  the  present  time. 

Although  next  year  will  be  the  fourth  centenary 
of  the  landing  of  the  Cabots  in  what  is  now  Canada,, 
and  a  part  of  the  country  is  well  advanced  in  the  third 
century  of  its  actual  occupation,  the  positive,  actual 
life  of  the  Dominion,  with  all  its  potentialities  brought 
within  reach  of  the  people,  commenced  a  little  more 
than  ten  years  ago.  Even  now,  although  the  popula- 
tion exceeds  five  million,  only  a  fringe  of  the  territory 
available  for  cultivation  is  inhabited.  There  are  no 

235 


Lord  Strathcona 

very  large  cities  in  Canada,  in  the  sense  in  which  the 
term  is  understood  in  the  United  Kingdom  and  else- 
where, and  over  forty-five  per  cent  of  the  population 
find  their  means  of  subsistence  and  their  opportunities 
for  the  accumulation  of  wealth  in  agriculture.  Canada 
is  proud  of  its  sturdy  yeoman  farmers.  Large  holdings 
are  exceptions  and  not  the  rule,  and  the  policy  of  the 
Dominion  and  Provincial  Governments  is  to  encourage 
the  immigration  and  settlement  of  small  farmers.  The 
holdings  may  be  said  to  average  from  one  hundred  to 
three  hundred  acres. 

The  annual  feast  of  the  Master  Cutlers'  Com- 
pany of  Sheffield  is  an  historic  affair.  Represen- 
tatives of  English  diplomacy,  statesmanship,  lit- 
erature, military,  and  naval  science  crowded  the 
Cutlers'  Hall  on  the  feast-day  in  October  to  do 
honour  to  the  great  industry  of  Sheffield,  and  some 
very  notable  speeches  were  delivered. 

The  toast  of  "The  Colonies"  fell  to  Sir  Howard 
Vincent,  one  of  the  members  of  Parliament  for  the 
city.  In  the  course  of  his  speech  he  said:  - 

God  be  thanked  that  the  coming  year  1897  bids  fair 
to  be  an  epoch  in  English  history.  It  will  not  only  be 
most  notable  in  the  annals  of  British  Monarchy,  but 
will  also  be,  I  hope,  a  witness  to  the  efforts  of  the  Brit- 
ish Government  and  statesmen  to  make  our  Empire 
proof  against  shot  and  shell  —  not  alone  by  the  armour 
plates  of  Sheffield,  but  by  the  golden  chains  of  mutual 
commerce.  Greet  to-night  the  pioneer  of  England's 
glorious  work,  the  vast  Dominion  of  Canada,  ever  in 
the  van  of  public  duty.  I  present  to  your  acclamation 
great  Canada's  High  Commissioner,  Sir  Donald  Smith, 
who  has  borne  a  foremost  part  in  binding,  with  the  rails 

236 


First  Move  should  be  England's 

of  Sheffield,  the  stormy  billows  of  the  Atlantic  with 
the  boundless  tracks  of  the  far  Pacific.  Over  the  iron 
way  is  coming  to  our  millions,  as  to  our  contempo- 
rarily afflicted  brothers  of  the  Far  East,  the  unrivalled 
British  corn  of  the  Far  West.  Over  the  Empire  — 
west  by  east  and  north  by  south  —  waves  the  banner 
of  freedom,  the  cross  of  St.  George,  St.  David,  St. 
Andrew,  and  St.  Patrick,  —  our  Union  Jack.  I  give 
you  the  toast  of  your  Colonies  —  the  Colonies  of  the 
British  Empire,  coupled  with  the  name  of  the  Hon- 
ourable Sir  Donald  Smith. 

Warmly  received  was  Sir  Donald  on  rising  to 
respond.  He  said:  — 

Sixty  and  more  years  ago,  I  became  personally  as- 
sociated with  Sheffield,  by  possessing  a  pocket  knife 
bearing  the  name  of  your  city.  Thousands  had  come 
to  know  Sheffield  in  the  same  way,  not  only  through- 
out the  Kingdom,  but  throughout  the  world.  And  on 
finding  myself  in  possession  of  that  part  of  the  wares 
of  Sheffield,  I  was  filled  with  pride  and  satisfaction, 
because,  beholding  the  name  "Sheffield,"  I  knew  that 
no  better  knife  —  no  better  tool  for  a  good  workman 
—  could  be  found  anywhere  on  the  planet. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Colonies  should  come  be- 
fore the  Mother  Country  and  express  their  desire  for 
a  closer  union.  But  it  seems  to  me  a  matter  of  such 
great  importance  to  the  whole  Empire,  it  would  cer- 
tainly not  be  unbecoming  that  Great  Britain  should 
approach  the  Colonies.  We,  in  Canada,  are  proud  of 
our  Mother  Country  because  we  believe  in  it.  We  have 
there  everything  which  has  made  the  United  States, 
and  it  is  no  doubt  the  same  thing  with  the  other 
Colonies  —  with  Australia  and  South  Africa.  I  can 

237 


Lord  Strathcona 

only  say  on  behalf  of  Canada,  and,  I  think,  equally  on 
behalf  of  all  the  Colonies,  that  there  are  no  more 
loyal  subjects  of  the  Queen  than  her  subjects  in  those 
divisions  of  the  Empire  —  not  even  in  Sheffield,  or  in 
any  part  of  this  United  Kingdom. 

For  years  the  burden  of  a  hundred  speeches  and 
addresses  was  Canada's  great  need  for  more  people. 

There  is  a  large  emigration  from  the  United  King- 
dom, a  good  deal  of  which  goes  outside  the  Empire,  for 
want  of  proper  direction.  Yet  in  no  country  can  more 
advantages  be  obtained  by  settlers  of  the  right  classes 
than  in  Canada. 

In  a  new  country  there  must  necessarily  be  more 
openings  for  the  young  and  energetic  than  in  the 
older  one,  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  same 
qualities  are  necessary  for  success  there  as  elsewhere. 
A  capacity  for  hard  work,  energy,  and  enterprise  will 
make  themselves  felt  anywhere,  but  nowhere  so  rap- 
idly and  with  such  great  results  as  in  a  country  like 
the  Dominion. 

People  are  sometimes  sent  to  the  Colonies  for  their 
country's  good  —  some  of  them  to  do  well,  but  many 
of  them  fail;  and  their  want  of  success  is  not  always 
attributed  to  themselves.  That  is  not  the  class  we  want. 
Canada  is  a  good  place  to  live  in,  and  offers  abundant 
advantages  to  people  of  the  right  stamp  who  will 
come  over  and  throw  in  their  lot  with  us. 

Certainly  the  great  crying  need  of  Canada  was 
more  people.  "Without  people,"  he  wrote,  "we 
can  do  nothing.  All  our  resources  are  lying  fallow 
—  all  our  talents  are  hidden  under  a  bushel." 
"Get  population,"  Mr.  Chamberlain  told  the 
Canadians,  "and  all  else  shall  be  added  unto  you." 

238 


Canada  under-peopled 

Into  this  truly  Herculean  task  of  filling  up  the 
Canadian  North-West,  Lord  Strathcona  flung 
himself  with  a  passion  extraordinary  in  one  of  his 
years.  The  apathy  of  the  British  people  must  be 
destroyed ;  the  tendency  of  emigrants  to  travel  to 
America  must  be  counteracted.  And  so,  as  we  shall 
see,  he  went  up  and  down  the  country  preaching 
indefatigably  the  gospel  of  what  has  been  called 
the  "ameliorating  re-distribution  of  the  British 
peoples."  His  success  in  this  task  is  the  measure  of 
the  debt  owed  him  to-day  by  the  Canadian  nation, 
and  especially  the  North-West.  Of  Canada  he  said 
it  was  a  "  field  within  the  limits  of  the  Empire  where 
the  capital,  skill,  and  energy  of  those  able  to  emi- 
grate, may  be  preserved  to  the  British  Crown." 

"The  development  of  this  country,"  wrote  Sir 
John  Macdonald  as  far  back  as  1880,  "if  left  to 
Canadian  resources  alone,  must  necessarily  be  ex- 
tremely slow.  It  is  manifestly  beyond  the  means 
of  such  a  limited  population  as  Canada  now 
possesses,  either  themselves  to  furnish  the  popu- 
lation required  to  fill  up  the  North-West  or  the 
capital  necessary  for  its  development.  Emigration 
on  a  large  scale,  and  precisely  of  that  character 
which  is  most  likely  to  take  place  from  the  United 
Kingdom,  is  essential;  and  it  may  be  urged  with 
much  reason  that  the  transference  of  a  large  body 
of  the  suffering  people  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
to  the  wheat-fields  of  Manitoba  and  the  North- 
West  will  directly  benefit  the  United  Kingdom 
much  more  than  the  settled  Provinces  of  the  Con- 
federation, and  will  indirectly  prove  of  still  further 

239 


Lord  Strathcona 

advantage  by  creating  a  new  class  of  customers  for 
goods,  the  products  of  whose  industry  are  precisely 
those  which  are  most  essential  for  the  independence 
of  the  United  Kingdom  for  her  food  supplies." 

In  that  year  the  Ottawa  Government  was  actu- 
ally prepared  to  consider  a  plan  of  systematic 
emigration,  whereby  Canada  on  her  side  would 
assume  the  entire  charge  for  the  civil  government 
of  the  country  and  the  maintenance  of  law  and 
order,  furnishing  free  land  for  the  incoming  popu- 
lation, and  asking  from  the  Imperial  Government 
only  its  assumption  of  a  reasonable  proportion  of 
the  cost  of  the  railway,  and  of  the  advances  which 
would  be  required  in  assisting  emigration  on  a 
large  scale.  Advances  could  be  secured  upon  the 
lands  reserved  for  sale  by  the  Government  in  aid 
of  the  cost  of  construction  of  the  Pacific  Railway 
or  upon  the  farms  occupied  by  the  emigrants  or 
upon  both,  and  the  Imperial  assistance  to  the  rail- 
way might  be  defined  and  limited  to  its  satisfaction. 

But  all  this  was  a  thing  of  the  past.  It  shows,  how- 
ever, to  what  lengths  the  Canadian  Government, 
with  what  Mr.  Goldwin  Smith  had  called  a  "white 
elephant  on  its  hands,"  was  then  prepared  to  go. 
Now,  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  had  been  built 
a  decade  ago  and  the  agricultural  potentialities  of 
the  country  had  been  tried  and  found  to  be  great 
even  beyond  the  early  expectations.  Yet  still  the 
tide  of  emigration  was  to  the  south  of  the  British 
line;  still  the  intending  British  emigrant  persisted 
in  regarding  Canada  as  a  land  of  snow  and  ice  and 
outside  the  range  of  his  choice  of  a  future  home. 

240 


The  Country's  Fertility 

Lord  Strathcona  recalled  the  enormous  emigration 
to  Canada  of  the  thirties  and  forties. 

"  I  am  astonished,"  he  said,  "when  I  think  of  the 
conditions  prevailing,  that  so  many  should  have 
emigrated  then  and  so  few  now."  In  a  letter, 
written  in  1896,  he  wrote  that  the  Canadian  Gov- 
ernment attached  the  greatest  possible  importance 
to  the  resources  and  capabilities  of  the  Dominion 
becoming  better  known  and  understood  in  the 
United  Kingdom  than  they  are  at  present,  and  a 
similar  feeling  prevails  among  the  five  million  of 
her  Majesty's  subjects  who  form  the  population  of 
its  different  provinces. 

A  considerable  emigration  [Sir  Donald  went  on  to 
say]  takes  place  every  year  from  the  United  Kingdom, 
some  of  which  goes  to  Canada,  some  to  the  other  Col- 
onies, and  the  larger  proportion  apparently  to  for- 
eign countries.  Canadians  would  like  to  see  a  much 
greater  part  of  this  movement  going  to  Canada,  which 
offers  advantages  to  immigrants  not  excelled  by  any 
other  part  of  the  world.  The  various  Provinces  — 
Nova  Scotia,  Prince  Edward  Island,  New  Brunswick, 
Quebec,  Manitoba,  the  North- West  Territories,  and 
British  Columbia  —  stretch  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  offer  a  wide  variety  of  climate  to 
suit  all  comers,  and  a  fertile  soil  which  has  been  highly 
spoken  of  by  the  tenant-farmer  delegations  which  have 
visited  the  country  in  recent  years.  Only  a  fringe  of 
the  territory  is  at  present  inhabited,  and  there  are 
countless  millions  of  acres  of  fertile  soil,  ready,  with 
cultivation,  to  grow  all  the  products  of  the  temperate 
zone. 


241 


Lord  Strathcona 

To  the  Honourable  Wilfrid  Laurier 

I4th  October,  1896. 

One  of  the  leading  obstacles  in  the  way  of  promotion 
of  our  interests,  from  an  emigration  standpoint,  lies  in 
the  apathy  of  the  New  York  lines,  arising  largely  from 
the  higher  rates  in  operation  from  American  ports  to 
our  North- West,  as  compared  with  those  from  Cana- 
dian ports.  It  applies  not  only  to  British  emigration, 
but  to  Continental  emigration;  and  we  must  make 
endeavours  to  get  on  better  terms  with  the  great  com- 
panies, which  do  not  help  us  in  the  matter  of  emigra- 
tion at  all  at  present. 

To  take  an  instance,  the  fare  from  New  York  to 
Winnipeg  is  £3  155.  od.  From  Quebec  to  Montreal  it  is 
£2  9-s.  4^.,  a  difference  of  £i  55.  8d.  The  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  are  not  willing  to  equalize  matters 
themselves,  because,  if  they  did,  and  had  to  pay  £i 
i  os.  iod.,  as  they  do  now,  upon  every  passenger  trav- 
elling by  way  of  New  York,  it  would  leave  them  only 
185.  6d.  for  their  share  of  the  haul.  Perhaps  the  officers 
of  the  Government  and  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
might  be  requested  to  look  into  the  matter,  to  see 
whether  something  cannot  be  done.  If  it  were  possible 
it  would  certainly  tend  to  increase  our  emigration,  for 
we  would  then  have  all  the  agents  of  the  New  York 
lines  working  for  us.  It  would  also  materially  increase 
our  passenger  traffic  over  the  American  lines  with 
which  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  is  in  connection. 
It  might  be  worth  the  while  of  both  the  Canadian 
Government  and  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Com- 
pany to  cooperate  toward  bringing  about  such  a  result, 
in  view  of  the  great  advantage  it  would  have  for 
Canada.  It  is  of  no  use  trying  to  do  anything  with  the 

242 


His  English  Addresses 

British  and  Continental  New  York  lines  until  the 
inequality  is  removed.  In  this  connection  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  as  a  principle  that  if  the  New  York  line 
agents  are  not  working  for  us,  their  influence  is  either 
opposed  to  us,  or  is  negative. 

All  of  his  emigration  addresses  were  of  an  emi- 
nently practical  character,  conveying  exactly  the 
kind  of  information  that  a  farmer  or  workingman 
would  find  useful  if  he  harboured  any  thought  of 
emigrating  overseas.  He  spoke  of  the  immense 
acreage  awaiting  cultivation,  and  of  the  crops  that 
could  be  grown  upon  it.  He  told  of  the  climate ;  of 
the  remarkable  development  of  our  railways  and 
canals;  of  our  excellent  banking  system;  of  our 
great  industrial  enterprises;  of  our  mines  and  min- 
erals, second  to  none  in  the  world;  of  the  cosmo- 
politan character  of  our  population;  of  our  supe- 
rior educational  institutions;  and  of  our  desire 
to  develop  trade  with  the  United  Kingdom  and 
to  draw  more  closely  the  bonds  of  affection  that 
attach  us  to  the  Empire.  Not  even  the  hundreds 
of  varieties  of  wild  flowers  that  so  modestly  "  trans- 
form many  parts  of  the  prairies  into  huge  flower 
gardens"  were  overlooked.  His  public  addresses 
were  those  of  a  Canadian  proud  of  his  country, 
hopeful  of  its  future,  and  anxious  to  do  it  service. 

Early  in  January  he  had  the  pleasure  to  be  pres- 
ent at  a  banquet  tendered  to  his  friend  Sir  Charles 
Tupper,  who  in  the  course  of  his  speech  uttered  that 
panegyric  of  his  successor  in  office  to  which  allusion 
has  already  been  made. 

243 


Lord  Strathcona 

Canada  now  has  the  good  fortune  to  have  as  my 
successor  in  the  High  Commissionership,  Sir  Donald 
Smith,  a  gentleman  who  possesses  to  an  infinitely 
greater  degree  than  either  of  his  predecessors  the  con- 
fidence —  [No,  no]  —  yes  —  I  say  it  advisedly  —  he 
possesses,  and  deservedly  possesses,  the  confidence  of 
both  parties  in  Canada  to  an  extent  to  which  I  could 
never  make  the  slightest  claim.  And  you  will  readily 
understand  why,  when,  without  mentioning  his  other 
great  claims  to  public  confidence,  I  say  that  the  mag- 
num opus  of  Canada,  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway, 
would  have  no  existence  to-day,  notwithstanding 
all  that  the  Government  did  to  support  that  under- 
taking, had  it  not  been  for  the  indomitable  pluck  and 
energy  and  determination,  both  financially  and  in  every 
other  respect,  of  Sir  Donald  Smith. 

Lord  Strathcona  used  to  say  that  no  tribute  that 
had  ever  been  paid  him  gave  him  greater  pleasure 
than  this  from  his  former  travelling  companion 
over  the  desolate,  snow-clad  prairies  to  Fort  Garry 
a  generation  before. 

Naturally  the  project  of  a  line  of  steamers  run- 
ning from  Britain  to  a  port  in  Hudson's  Bay,  and 
there  connecting  with  a  railway  serving  the  North- 
West,  had  much  personal  interest  for  Sir  Donald. 
His  dictum  on  the  subject  deserves  to  be  quoted :  — 

At  first  blush  I  should  say  its  commercial  practica- 
bility was  not  possible!  But  if  my  long  life  and  experi- 
ence have  taught  me  anything,  it  is  this:  everything  is 
possible.  What  man  has  done,  man  can  do.  There  is 
no  project  so  fantastic  —  there  is  no  scheme  of  trans- 
portation so  extravagant,  —  at  which  I  would  now 

244 


Hudson's  Bay  Route 

laugh  —  or  which  I  am  not  disposed  to  believe,  in  ca- 
pable hands,  possible  and  even  highly  successful. 

Which  suggests  that  on  one  occasion  Lady 
Strathcona  exclaimed :  "Really  —  I  could  no  more 
do  such  a  thing  than  I  could  fly." 

"But,  my  dear,"  observed  her  husband  quietly, 
"we  can  all  fly  now  if  we  choose." 

An  application,  made  by  the  promoter  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  route  to  the  British  Government  for 
its  cooperation  in  investigating  the  possibilities  of 
the  scheme,  had  been  rejected.  Sir  Donald  wrote 
again  to  Mr.  Goschen  urging  him  to  reconsider  his 
decision. 

To  the  Right  Honourable  G.  J.  Goschen,  M.P. 

1 8th  February,  1897. 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  previous  expeditions  are  not 
regarded  as  conclusive  by  many  in  Canada,  and 
especially  by  a  large  number  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Manitoba  and  the  North-West  Territories,  who  are 
fully  impressed  with  the  belief  that  navigation  is 
practicable  for  at  least  several  months  of  the  year  in 
Hudson's  Bay  and  Straits. 

You  will  readily  understand,  therefore,  the  desire 
that  exists  that  the  question  should  be  investigated  in 
a  very  thorough  manner,  in  order  that  the  practicabil- 
ity of  the  new  route,  or  otherwise,  may  be  satisfactorily 
demonstrated.  This  result  is  more  likely  to  be  achieved 
with  the  cooperation  of  Her  Majesty's  Government 
than  without  it. 

If  the  route,  even  with  specially  constructed  steam- 
ers, should  prove  to  be  practicable  for  a  sufficient  time 

245 


Lord  Strathcona 

each  year  to  encourage  commercial  enterprise,  it  would 
be  of  importance  to  Manitoba  and  the  North-West 
Territories  and  also  to  the  exporters  and  importers 
of  the  United  Kingdom.  The  North-West  Territories 
and  Manitoba  promise  to  afford  a  large  market  for 
British  produce,  and  their  capacity  is  great  for  raising 
food  supplies  of  various  kinds  which  are  so  largely 
imported  into  Great  Britain. 

Therefore,  in  view  of  all  these  circumstances,  I  hope 
you  will  be  so  kind  as  to  reconsider  the  question,  and  I 
trust,  after  consultation  with  your  colleagues,  some 
means  may  be  found  of  cooperating  with  the  Canadian 
Government  in  the  proposed  investigation,  not  only 
by  deputing  an  officer  to  accompany  the  expedition, 
but  by  sharing  in  the  expenses  that  will  necessarily 
have  to  be  incurred. 

But  the  British  Government  again  declined,  and 
ultimately  the  investigation  was  made  by  Canada. 
The  result  was  the  commencement  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  railway. 

One  of  the  matters  which  on  the  threshold  of 
the  Jubilee  Year  gave  him  great  concern  was  the 
fate  of  the  Imperial  Institute,  which  with  a  mighty 
blaze  of  trumpets  had  promised  to  accomplish  such 
a  great  work  for  the  Imperial  idea.  The  splendid 
building  had  been  open  only  four  or  five  years  and 
now  already  appeared  to  be  threatened  with  bank- 
ruptcy. The  amount  derived  from  the  endowment 
fund  just  sufficed  to  pay  the  rates  and  taxes  and 
the  interest  on  the  debt.  For  the  rest  the  Institute 
had  only  its  modest  subscription  list  as  an  assured 
income;  and  the  balance  of  its  working  expenses 
had  to  be  made  out  of  Colonial  contributions  and 

246 


The  Imperial  Institute 

what  it  could  raise  by  catering  for  the  general  public 
as  a  place  of  recreation  and  amusement. 

You  will  see  [wrote  Lord  Strathcona  to  Sir  Wilfrid 
Laurier  in  March,  1897]  that  Mr.  Labouchere  says 
that  "the  history  of  the  Institute  is  a  monument  of 
reckless  extravagance,  purposeless  effort,  and  incom- 
petent administration."  It  is  a  great  pity,  because  I 
believe  it  could  still  in  other  hands  fulfil  its  purpose. 

He  reverted  to  the  subject  in  Ottawa,  whither 
he  proceeded  at  the  end  of  March  to  consult  the 
Government. 

To  the  Honourable  Wilfrid  Laurier 

OTTAWA,  13  April,  1897. 

So  far  as  Canada  is  concerned,  we  are  not  getting 
from  the  Institute  the  results  which  we  ought  to  expect. 
This  arises  a  good  deal  from  the  lukewarm  interest 
that  appears  to  be  taken  in  the  matter  in  Canada. 

Ontario,  Quebec,  and  Manitoba,  and  perhaps  Brit- 
ish Columbia,  have  a  fair  collection  of  products,  but 
nothing  like  what  might  be  sent  if  the  effort  was 
made.  New  Brunswick  and  Prince  Edward  Island  take 
no  part  in  the  Institute  at  all ;  they  have  no  collection 
and  hitherto  have  refused  to  pay  any  money. 

The  North-West  Territories  have  hitherto  paid 
their  share  of  the  bills,  but  have  sent  over  no  exhibits. 
The  same  remark  applies  very  much  to  Nova  Scotia. 
The  exhibits  could  be  made  of  much  more  use  if  the 
whole  expenditure  was  provided  by  the  Canadian 
Government,  and  the  Canadian  Court  managed  from 
the  High  Commissioner's  office. 

What  we  have  to  consider  before  doing  anything  on 

247 


Lord  Strathcona 

the  lines  suggested  is  what  is  going  to  be  the  future  of 
the  Institute?  It  is  very  evident,  unless  the  finances 
are  placed  in  a  more  satisfactory  condition,  the  Insti- 
tute must  collapse. 

With  Lord  Herschel  (who  is  Chairman  of  the  Insti- 
tute) I  had  some  conversation  on  the  subject  just  be- 
fore I  left  England,  and  he  appeared  to  think  that,  if 
the  present  difficulties  could  be  tided  over  for  a  few 
years,  the  Institute  would  come  into  an  annual  sum 
from  the  Commission  of  the  Exhibition  of  1851,  which 
would  put  it  on  a  solid  basis.  Meantime,  however,  its 
condition  is  far  from  being  satisfactory. 

Interesting  is  it  to  learn  now  that  he  at  one  time 
entertained  the  notion  of  buying  the  Imperial 
Institute  outright  and  reorganizing  it  on  a  new 
basis.  He  was  not  deterred  by  the  expense,  but  by 
a  doubt  whether  the  expenditure  would  be  justified 
by  its  usefulness. 

On  the  loth  of  March,  Sir  Donald  departed  on 
the  Teutonic  on  another  brief  visit  to  Canada  to 
consult  with  Dominion  Ministers,  and  especially  with 
the  Honourable  Clifford  Sifton,  the  new  Minister 
of  the  Interior,  on  the  all-important  subject  of 
the  immigration  policy  of  the  Administration. 

The  sensational  gold  discoveries  in  the  Klon- 
dyke  were  rapidly  proving  the  long-desired  magnet 
for  immigrants.  On  every  hand  one  heard  of  the 
"rush  to  the  Klondyke,"  and  the  stirring  incidents 
of  the  great  California  mining  boom  of  1849  were 
about  to  be  reenacted. 

The  world  [he  wrote  in  March,  1897]  has  taken  a 
long  time  to  find  out  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  Yukon 

248 


Gold  in  the  Klondyke 

district.  I  recall  many  old  Hudson's  Bay  pioneers 
telling  of  the  gold  there  nearly  half  a  century  ago,  and 
it  was  reported  to  the  Company  longer  ago  than  that, 
but  it  was  not  then  considered  to  be  "  in  their  line." 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE  ANNUS  MIRABILIS 

To  the  students  of  British  political  history,  the 
year  1897  will  ever  mark  an  era  in  the  relations  of 
the  United  Kingdom  and  the  Oversea  Dominions. 
A  decade  before  there  had  been  celebrated  by  the 
British  people  the  Jubilee  of  Queen  Victoria's  reign. 
Albeit  in  the  short  space  of  ten  years,  the  whole 
Imperial  outlook  changed.  Conditions  at  home  and 
abroad  were  not  the  same.  Whosoever  takes  the 
pains  to  explore  the  annals  of  that  decade  will  be 
struck  by  the  new  mood  of  Imperial  sentiment 
which  now  swept  over  the  whole  Empire.  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  Colonies  had  visited  England  in 
1 887 :  but  they  came  unofficially,  and  for  the  temper, 
the  spirit,  and  the  knowledge  with  which  they 
were  received,  one  glance  at  the  newspapers  of  the 
period,  recording  the  well-meant  but  patronizing 
speeches  delivered  on  many  notable  occasions,  will 
suffice.1 

The  Jubilee  celebration  of  1897  [wrote  the  Speaker 
of  the  Canadian  House  of  Commons],  has  either 

1  "A  few  years  ago  people  from  Canada  and  the  Colonies  were 
regarded  in  England  as  merely  those  to  whom  it  was  well  to  be  civil  — 
very  worthy  backwoods  people,  but  hardly  worth  while  crossing  the 
sea  to  recognize.  We  know  that  our  neighbours  of  the  United  States 
were  thought  highly  of  and  seen  everywhere  in  society:  but  was  it  so 
of  ourselves  from  Canada?"  (Lord  Strathcona,  Speech  in  Toronto. 
November,  1900.) 

250 


Canada's  Oversea  Hegemony 

caused  or  elicited  an  Imperial  sentiment,  the  strength 
of  which  was  never  before  displayed  or  suspected. 
Was  it  a  little  thing  that,  as  a  pledge  of  kinship  and 
love,  the  greatest  of  all  commercial  powers  denounced 
two  of  her  most  important  commercial  treaties,  in 
order  to  help  Canada  to  draw  nearer  to  her?  Assuredly 
a  new  epoch  has  at  last  come  in  the  world's  history, 
when  the  discovery  has  been  made  that  a  parent  nation 
can  bind  a  Colony  closer  to  her  by  striking  off  all  its 
fetters,  and  can  win  its  enduring  loyalty  by  a  gift  of 
the  broadest  freedom.1 

The  Colonies  [said  Sir  Donald  Smith]  are  taking  a 
prominent  position  in  the  United  Kingdom  this  year. 
Their  status  in  the  Empire  has  at  last  been  recognized. 
They  have  been  invited  for  the  first  time  to  partici- 
pate in  a  national  celebration.  They  will  share  in  the 
rejoicings  of  the  occasion  of  the  sixtieth  anniversary  of 
Her  Majesty's  reign.  Their  military  and  police  forces 
will  be  represented  in  the  royal  procession,  and  their 
Prime  Ministers  will  be  the  guests  of  the  Imperial 
Government.  Let  us  hope  that  their  great  gatherings 
may  lead  to  a  closer  union  among  the  family  nations, 
—  all  under  one  flag  and  owning  allegiance  to  one 
Sovereign,  —  which  make  up  the  British  Empire. 

In  ten  years  the  British  Empire  had,  indeed, 
moved  notably  and  the  most  marked  progress  had 
been  made  by  Canada.  Canada  was  the  acknowl- 
edged leader  amongst  the  dominions  overseas.  We 
have  noted  several  causes  contributing  to  enhance 
her  prestige.  We  have  seen,  after  a  period  of  stag- 
nation, an  enfeebled  Government  overthrown  and 
a  new  Administration,  at  the  head  of  which  was  a 

1  The  Honourable  J.  D.  Edgar,  Canada  and  its  Capital. 
251 


Lord  Strathcona 

French-Canadian  of  great  personal  distinction  and 
eloquence,  of  whom  as  yet  little  was  known  and 
everything  was  hoped,  enter  upon  the  scene. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  this  year  that  the  question 
of  the  fiscal  relations  between  Canada  and  the 
United  Kingdom  came  almost  dramatically  to  the 
forefront  in  Imperial  politics.  In  April  there  came 
the  Fielding  Tariff  Law  by  which  preferential  treat- 
ment was  accorded  to  Great  Britain,  uncondition- 
ally. Thus  a  great  and  momentous  step  was  taken 
toward  that  Imperial  union  which  had  been 
preached  so  long  and  preached  in  vain.  It  lent  the 
British  advocates  of  tariff  reform  a  practical  basis 
from  which  to  launch  their  policy;  although  in 
Canada  it  was  rather  a  step  toward  the  free  trade 
long  promised  by  the  Liberal  Party  — 

But  before  the  preference  could  go  into  effect  the 
treaties  with  Germany  and  Belgium  had  to  be  de- 
nounced by  Great  Britain  and  this  was  later  agreed 
to.1  The  announcement  of  the  Fielding  Tariff, 
according  preference  to  British  goods  and  denounc- 
ing the  existing  treaty  with  Germany,  thrilled  the 
whole  Empire,  evoking  from  Mr.  Kipling,  then  at 
the  very  height  of  his  renown,  the  lines,  — 

"  Daughter  in  my  mother's  house, 
But  mistress  in  mine  own," 

1  "The  abrogation  of  the  treaties  left  the  commercial  relations 
between  the  United  Kingdom  and  Belgium  and  Germany  in  an  un- 
stable position;  a  new  treaty  was  later  negotiated  with  Belgium,  but 
the  enjoyment  of  most-favoured-nation  treatment  in  Germany  has 
since  rested  only  on  an  annual  resolution  of  the  Bundesrath.  It  was, 
however,  primarily  against  Canada,  as  will  be  seen  later,  that  Ger- 
man resentment  was  directed."  (O.  D.  Skelton,  Canada  and  its 
Provinces.) 

252 


Citizens  of  the  Empire 

in  which  Canada  proclaimed  her  fiscal  and  com- 
mercial independence. 

The  High  Commissioner  returned  to  his  post  in 
the  second  week  in  May,  and  a  few  days  later  took 
part  in  a  great  banquet,  presided  over  by  his  friend 
the  Marquess  of  Lome. 

Sir  Donald  Smith  [said  Lord  Lorne]  has  just  come 
back  from  a  journey  to  Canada,  where  his  presence  was 
so  often  sought  that  his  countrymen  must  find  it 
difficult  to  persuade  themselves  to  send  him  over  here 
to  represent  them,  he  is  so  necessary  both  in  Europe 
and  in  Canada.  It  is  the  opinion  of  one  and  all  who 
have  had  anything  to  do  with  the  Canadian  Office 
that  no  better  High  Commissioner  from  the  great 
Dominion  of  Canada  could  possibly  have  been  chosen, 
and  we  hope  he  may  be  continued  in  that  office  in 
good  health  and  strength  for  many  years  to  come. 

Replying  to  the  toast  of  "Her  Majesty's  Colo- 
nies," Sir  Donald  said 

that  the  subject  of  the  toast  was  one  of  great  and 
noble  proportions.  It  is  one  which  comes  home  to  the 
heart  of  every  colonist  who  is  proud  that  his  particular 
Colony  is  a  part  and  that  he  is  himself  a  citizen  of  that 
great  Empire  on  which  the  sun  never  sets.  He  feels  that 
in  England  he  is  every  bit  as  fully  an  Englishman  as 
any  of  you.  He  has  all  the  sentiment  and  reminiscences 
of  an  Englishman,  and  having  them  he  is  all  the  better 
citizen  of  the  Colony  in  which  he  lives.  Looking  back 
to  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  the  Queen,  what 
do  we  find?  In  Canada  we  had  what  was  called  a 
rebellion.  An  important  portion  of  the  people  were  in 
arms,  because  they  thought  those  rights  to  which  they 

253 


Lord  Strathcona 

were  entitled  as  Englishmen  were  not  given  to  them  at 
that  time.  What  have  we  there  now?  Are  these  very 
same  people  —  that  French-speaking  people  —  any 
less  loyal  than  the  English-speaking  people?  There  is 
a  large  proportion  of  English-speaking  people  in 
Canada,  and  they  have  chosen  for  their  Premier  a 
French-speaking  statesman.  We  know  for  a  certainty 
that  there  could  be  no  more  devoted  subjects  of  the 
Queen.  It  has  been  said  that  Canadians  have  been 
looking  toward  Washington.  Let  me  say  that  there  is 
not  one  iota  of  truth  in  any  such  suggestion.  If 
Canada  were  polled,  not  one  man  in  a  hundred  —  not 
one  man  in  a  thousand  —  would  be  found  who  did  not 
wish  to  live  and  die  under  the  British  flag.  Sixty  years 
ago  the  Colonies  were  little  known  over  here,  but  this 
has  altered,  and  everybody  now  knows  Australia  and 
Africa  almost  as  well  as  his  own  country.  That  is  a  good 
thing,  the  drawing  together  of  the  Colonies.  I  have  the 
honour  of  representing  eight  colonies,  now  happily  one ; 
and  I  hope  we  shall  shortly  be  able  to  say  the  same  of 
the  great  Colonies  in  Australia  and  Africa.  Every 
colonist  looks  upon  this  sixtieth  year  of  the  Queen's 
reign  with  as  great  an  interest  as  you  do,  for  the 
Queen  is  to  them,  as  to  you,  not  only  a  model  Sover- 
eign, but  a  model  woman.  Even  among  our  neigh- 
bours in  the  United  States,  no  sovereign  could  be  looked 
up  to  with  more  regard  than  is  our  beloved  Queen. 

There  was  a  curious  protest  in  certain  quarters 
against  the  term  "Our  Lady  of  the  Snows,  "as  ap- 
plied to  Canada.  This  Lord  Strathcona  did  not  share. 

I  really  do  not  see  why  we  should  be  ashamed  of  our 
snow.  It  seems  to  me  that  I  have  heard  this  same 
snow  praised  a  great  deal  by  a  great  many  poets  and 

254 


Lord  Northcliffe 

certainly  about  Christmas-time  I  am  told  that  the 
most  popular  pictures  are  those  depicting  snow-clad 
scenery.  Our  beautiful  Canadian  snow  used  to  be 
considered  a  great  asset  instead  of  a  drawback.  Per- 
sonally I  think  snow,  besides  being  very  beautiful,  is  a 
wonderful  convenience  to  the  people  of  the  Canadian 
countryside  which  England  lacks,  and  to  it,  besides,  is 
due  much  of  the  special  fertility  of  our  soil. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  England's  inter- 
est in  the  visit  of  the  Premiers  largely  centred  upon 
the  picturesque  figure  of  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier.  This 
interest  now  began  to  be  warmly  stimulated  by  the 
newspapers.  Into  London  journalism  had  recently 
leapt  a  new  force ;  the  lethargic,  the  oracular,  and 
the  dull  had  been  forced  to  make  way  in  popular 
esteem  to  the  sprightliness,  vigour,  and  brilliancy 
of  youth. 

The  career  of  Mr.  Alfred  Harmsworth,  after- 
wards Lord  Northcliffe,  will  offer  a  curious  study 
to  future  historians  and  philosophers.  For  a  long 
time  his  volatility  merely  entertained  the  serious- 
minded.  It  is  now  recognized  that  his  influence 
has  been  profound  and  far-reaching.  We  cannot 
yet  fairly  estimate  his  contribution  to  the  poli- 
tics and  national  habits  of  thought  and  action  in 
England  for  the  last  twenty  years.  Nevertheless, 
a  shrewd  American  observer,  the  late  John  Hay, 
once  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  modern  British 
Imperialism,  "as  a  popular  force,  was  largely  the 
joint  production  of  four  men,"  Joseph  Chamber- 
lain, Lord  Strathcona,  Rudyard  Kipling,  and  Lord 
Northcliffe. 

255 


Lord  Strathcona 

My  own  intimate  connection  with  the  then  Mr. 
Harmsworth  dates  from  the  beginning  of  1895, 
before  he  had  yet  ventured  either  into  politics  or 
daily  journalism.  In  the  spring  of  1896  he  founded 
the  Daily  Mail,  with  which  I  became  editorially 
associated. 

As  a  Canadian,  dwelling  at  the  heart  of  the  Em- 
pire, and  not  unresponsive  to  Canadian  activities 
and  aspirations,  I  naturally  endeavoured  to  secure 
Mr.  Harmsworth's  interest  in  anything  which 
would  be  an  advantage  in  making  Canada  and 
her  affairs  figure  a  little  more  prominently  in  the 
public  eye.  It  is  entertaining  enough  to  look  back 
over  that  brief  intervening  span  of  years  and  mark 
how  different  is  the  popular  knowledge  of  and  in- 
terest in  the  Dominion  now  compared  to  what  it 
was  then.1 

From  the  first,  Sir  Donald,  with  whom  I  had 
many  conversations  on  the  subject,  agreed  with  me 
in  thinking  that  one  cause  of  the  little  knowledge 
concerning  Canada  possessed  by  the  average  Eng- 

1  At  the  risk  of  seeming  to  obtrude  myself  unduly  I  may  mention 
that  when  I  introduced  Mr.  Harmsworth  to  the  High  Commissioner, 
I  proposed  to  the  former  that  I  should  tour  the  Dominion  from  ocean 
to  ocean,  and  endeavour  to  set  forth  our  resources  in  an  attractive 
light  for  the  enormous  public  his  newspaper  already  commanded. 
This  was  arranged,  greatly  to  Sir  Donald  Smith's  satisfaction,  and 
the  fruits  of  a  protracted  journey  from  Newfoundland  to  the  Pacific 
continued  to  appear,  under  the  title  of  "Our  Western  Empire"  in 
the  Daily  Mail,  well  on  into  the  spring  of  1897.  Sir  Donald  very 
kindly  wrote  me  that  these  articles  had  "popularized  Canada  to  a 
most  gratifying  extent."  On  my  return  to  London,  I  was  happily 
enabled  to  act  as  a  sort  of  unofficial  avant-courier  to  the  Honour- 
able Mr.  Laurier,  the  new  and  then  personally  unknown  Prime 
Minister  of  the  Dominion. 

256 


Advertising  Canada 

lishman,  was  the  paucity  of  Canadian  news  in  the 
British  press.  Canada  was  a  "land  of  snow,"  and 
Montreal  was  rarely  mentioned,  save  in  connec- 
tion with  her  annual  ice-palace.  Sir  Donald  put  it 
in  this  way  in  a  confidential  letter  to  Mr.  Laurier : — 

To  the  Honourable  Wilfrid  Laurier 

2Oth  August,  1896. 

You  are  aware,  I  think,  that  very  little  Canadian 
news  finds  its  way  into  English  newspapers.  This 
arises  largely  from  competition  having  ceased  between 
Reuter's  and  Dalziel's  agencies.  The  latter  is  practi- 
cally non-existent,  and  the  former  for  some  years  past 
seem  to  have  been  restricting  their  expenditure,  so  far 
as  Canadian  news  is  concerned.  Then,  again,  none  of 
the  papers,  with  the  exception  of  the  Times,  have  any 
correspondents  in  Canada  who  send  telegraphic  infor- 
mation. In  fact,  the  Times  is  the  only  paper  in  which 
Canadian  news  appears  at  all  regularly.  In  the  other 
papers  it  is  only  telegrams  about  things  of  a  startling 
or  morbid  nature  which  appear  to  obtain  publicity, 
and  it  is  to  matters  of  that  kind  that  Reuter's  agents 
seem  largely  to  devote  their  attention. 

The  Times,  as  you  know,  has  a  comparatively  limited 
circulation,  and  does  not  reach  the  middle  class.  Con- 
sequently very  little  information  relating  to  the  com- 
mercial or  industrial  progress  of  the  country  reaches 
the  larger  public,  and  a  valuable  medium  for  educating 
the  people  of  the  United  Kingdom  about  the  resources 
and  capabilities  of  Canada  is  lacking.  Canadians  who 
visit  England  are  struck  by  the  lack  of  Canadian  news 
and  you  will  see  it  frequently  commented  upon  in  press 
interviews  on  their  return. 

257 


Lord  Strathcona 

Naturally,  I  look  upon  the  matter  largely  from  the 
advertisement  point  of  view.  To  have  Canada  and 
Canadian  news  of  a  desirable  nature  appearing  fre- 
quently in  the  English  papers  would  be  of  great  use  to 
us.  It  would  help  emigration,  it  would  help  the  exten- 
sion of  trade,  and  would  be  beneficial  from  every  point 
of  view.  As  the  news  agencies  are  apparently  not 
prepared  to  incur  any  expense  in  the  matter,  and  the 
newspapers  do  not  appoint  their  own  agents  in  the 
Dominion,  the  question  is,  How  is  the  difficulty  to 
which  I  have  referred  to  be  got  over? 

It  occurs  to  me  that  it  would  be  most  useful  to  me, 
as  High  Commissioner  for  Canada,  and  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Dominion  in  this  country,  to  receive 
from  you  once  or  twice  a  week,  or  even  a  little  more 
frequently,  should  it  be  necessary  or  desirable,  tele- 
grams informing  me  of  anything  that  may  be  happen- 
ing in  the  Dominion  of  an  interesting  nature  and  illus- 
trating the  progress  of  the  country.  For  instance, 
particulars  about  the  revenue  and  expenditure,  imports 
and  exports,  the  experimental  farms,  the  crops  in  the 
different  districts,  and  mining  and  industrial  develop- 
ment, would  be  most  valuable;  the  same  remark  applies 
to  anything  which  would  serve  to  draw  the  attention 
of  the  people  to  the  Dominion  and  interest  them  in  its 
progress  and  welfare. 

I  commend  the  matter  to  your  consideration,  and 
shall  be  glad  if  you  will  let  me  know  what  you  think  of 
my  proposal  at  your  convenience. 

There  are  many  episodes  of  that  Annus  mirabilis 
which  are  far  less  significant  than  the  one  I  am 
about  to  relate. 

Hearing  that  a  little  private  entertainment  of  the 

258 


A  Welcome  to  Mr.  Laurier 

visiting  First  Ministers  of  the  Colonies  had  been 
planned,  Mr.  Harmsworth,  at  my  suggestion,  re- 
solved upon  giving  a  large  party  at  his  town  resi- 
dence in  Berkeley  Square. 

His  newspapers,  meanwhile,  led  the  way  by  giv- 
ing prominence  to  the  personality  and  every  cir- 
cumstance connected  with  the  approaching  visit  of 
the  oversea  notabilities. 

The  Author  to  Sir  Donald  A.  Smith 

2d  June,  1897. 

I  hasten  to  acknowledge  your  kind  note  of  yesterday. 

Mr.  Harmsworth  and  myself  need  no  assurance  of  your 

warm  cooperation.  This  is  to  be  a  great  Colonial  year 

-  it  will  not  be  our  fault  if  it  is  not  also  a  great 

Canadian  year. 

Mr.  Laurier  sails  to-day  by  the  Lucania.  He  will,  of 
course,  take  precedence  amongst  the  overseas  Premiers, 
not  only  by  reason  of  Canada's  status,  but  because  of 
his  own  personality.  Ought  not  we  Canadians  to  give 
him  an  especially  cordial  welcome,  not  only  in  London, 
but  on  his  arrival  in  Liverpool?  I  suggested  to  Mr. 
Archer  Baker  that  a  party  of  us  travel  down  and  meet 
the  Lucania  in  Liverpool  Harbour  next  Wednesday. 
He  approved  heartily  of  this,  but  thought  it  essential 
you  should  head  the  party. 

Please  let  me  know  your  opinion  of  this  little  plan. 

Unluckily,  on  the  very  day  this  letter  was  written 
Sir  Donald  was  attacked  by  one  of  those  violent 
colds  to  which  he  was  constitutionally  subject  and 
a  verbal  message  came  to  me  that  he  was  confined  to 
his  bed.  Under  the  circumstances  it  was  thought 

259 


Lord  Strathcona 

wise  not  to  press  him  to  accompany  the  party  of 
Canadians  from  London.  Arrangements  were  made 
for  a  steam  tug  and  a  small  brass  band  of  five  musi- 
cians to  meet  the  Lucania  at  the  entrance  of  Liver- 
pool Harbour,  on  the  loth.  But  alas,  difficulties 
arose  —  the  weather  threatened  and  there  was 
grave  doubt  of  the  exact  time  of  the  steamer's 
arrival ;  it  might  be  midnight  —  the  tug  might  loi- 
ter about  the  harbour  for  twenty-four  hours.  The 
threatened  ordeal  was  not  too  severe  for  Young 
Imperialism,  but  it  was  unacceptable  to  the  musi- 
cians and  also  to  the  master  of  the  vessel,  who  im- 
posed conditions  which  could,  we  thought,  not 
prudently  be  fulfilled.  Wherefore,  reluctantly,  the 
welcome  by  water  was  abandoned. 
On  June  7,  I  wrote  to  Sir  Donald :  — 

For  the  reception  on  the  2 1st  to  the  Premiers,  we 
have  engaged  Melba,  Paderewski,  and  Miss  Crossley. 
It  is  sincerely  to  be  hoped  that  nothing  else  will  hap- 
pen on  that  evening  —  such,  for  example,  as  a  dinner- 
party at  Windsor!  Judging  from  a  conversation  I  had 
yesterday  at  the  Colonial  Office  with  Mr.  Baillie- 
Hamilton,  I  should  say  that  anything  they  can  do  to 
discourage  us  they  will  do.  The  permanent  staff  would 
prefer  everything  this  year  should  be  strictly  official. 

On  the  same  day  I  received  the  following :  — 

From  Sir  Donald  Smith 

53  CADOGAN  SQUARE,  S.W., 

WHITMONDAY,  7th  June,  1897. 

Ever  since  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  the  2d,  I  have 
been  practically  laid  up  from  the  effects  of  a  severe 

260 


Colonial  Premiers  arrive 

cold  which  still  hangs  over  me ;  but  if  you  can  make  it 
convenient  to  call  at  my  office,  17  Victoria  Street,  be- 
tween eleven  and  twelve  to-morrow  morning,  I  shall  be 
very  glad  of  the  opportunity  of  talking  over  with  you 
the  matter  referred  to  by  you,  of  a  special  and  cordial 
welcome  to  the  Honourable  Mr.  Laurier,  our  Dominion 
Premier. 

I,  and  let  me  add  that  all  Canadians,  will  greatly 
appreciate  the  warm  interest  taken  by  Mr.  Harms- 
worth  and  yourself  in  this;  and  with  best  regards  for 
you  and  him,  believe  me,  etc. 

When  I  duly  explained  to  the  High  Commissioner 
that  the  Liverpool  scheme  had  been  abandoned,  he 
seemed  disappointed.  "I  had  been  thinking,"  he 
said,  "  what  a  splendid  surprise  it  would  be  and  had 
made  up  my  mind  that  the  little  sea-trip  would  do 
me  good.  However,  I  suppose  you  are  right." 

Of  the  welcome  given  by  London  to  Canada's 
Premier,  Mr.  Laurier  had  no  reason  to  complain.  It 
was  a  personal  triumph.  The  First  Ministers  of 
the  other  Colonies  arriving  took  up  their  quarters 
in  the  Hotel  Cecil  as  royal  guests,  where  they  were 
waited  on  by  servants  in  the  royal  livery,  while 
royal  carriages  were  at  their  bidding.  No  wonder 
that  some  of  these  Colonial  dignitaries  were  a  little 
dazzled  by  the  brilliancy  of  their  welcome.  For  the 
first  time  in  their  lives,  they  felt  the  full  force  of 
being  representative:  for  their  personalities  and 
achievements  alike  were  unknown.  Their  carriages 
wound  their  way  hither  and  thither,  the  news- 
papers chronicled  the  most  trifling  actions  of  the 
Colonial  notabilities.  British  officialdom  called  and 

261 


Lord  Strathcona 

left  their  cards.  But  until  the  2ist  of  June,  the 
Prime  Ministers  were  socially  nomina  et  pr&terea 
nihil.  London  society  held  aloof  from  any  practical 
demonstration.  To  invite  to  their  drawing-rooms 
and  dinner-tables  colonists  of  whom  nothing  per- 
sonally was  known  was  too  revolutionary  of  eti- 
quette. They  would  smile  benignly,  they  would 
even  condescend  to  wave  the  fluttering  cambric, 
but  not  yet  would  Mayfair  open  wide  the  portals 
of  its  houses. 

Such  being  Mr.  Harmsworth's  opportunity,  he 
took  full  advantage  of  it.  Fifteen  hundred  invita- 
tions were  issued  to  the  leaders  of  London  society, 
ambassadors,  prominent  members  of  Parliament,  to 
those  at  the  bar  and  on  the  stage,  to  this  reception, 
"to  meet  the  Colonial  Premiers." 

The  long  regime  of  "Mr.  Mother  Country," 
humorously  prefigured  by  J.  K.  Stephen,  was  rap- 
idly drawing  to  a  close.  But  the  discredited  auto- 
crat could  still  aim  a  blow  at  "  pushf ulness." 

Certain  Colonial  Office  officials,  regarding  the 
proceeding  as  very  irregular  and  even  impertinent, 
took  prompt,  but,  as  they  thought,  effectual  means 
for  turning  it  into  a  fiasco.  For  the  reception,  of 
which  all  London  was  now  talking,  "to  meet  the 
Premiers,"  would  be  absurd  without  the  presence 
of  the  Premiers  themselves.  Before  it  was  possible 
for  us  to  change  the  date  it  was  announced  that 
Her  Majesty  the  Queen  had  commanded  the 
Premiers  to  a  reception  that  evening  at  Bucking- 
ham Palace! 


262 


A  Threatened  Contretemps 

From  Sir  Donald  Smith 

I  sympathize  with  you  most  unfeignedly,  but  I  really 
do  not  see  what  remedy  there  can  be.  It  is  most  un- 
fortunate, but  you  may  rest  assured  that  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain was  not  concerned  in  the  matter,  which  is 
entirely  out  of  his  control. 

Sir  Donald  then  shared  our  suspicions,  but  we 
had  no  proof  until  some  time  afterwards  of  their 
correctness,  that  this  was  a  deliberate  attempt  to 
frustrate  the  Harmsworth  party,  by  way  of  admin- 
istering a  rebuke  to  what  was  called  Mr.  Harms- 
worth's  "pushful  Imperialism."  I  remember  Sir 
Donald's  quiet  laugh  as  he  said,  "  I  am  afraid  I  also 
am  laying  myself  open  to  the  charge  of  pushful 
Imperialism." 

The  original  date  for  the  Royal  Reception  was 
June  20.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  Queen  was 
wholly  ignorant  of  these  graceless  machinations. 

In  this  emergency  I  sought  Mr.  Laurier,  who  was 
quite  as  much  chagrined  over  our  threatened  pre- 
dicament as  we  were. 

"If,"  I  urged,  "this  function  at  Buckingham 
Palace  does  not  last  till  midnight,  will  you  come  to 
Berkeley  Square  on  the  2ist?" 

"Certainly,"  he  replied  promptly;  "I  will  come 
if  it  lasts  till  past  midnight ";  adding,  generously, 
"moreover,  I  will  endeavour  to  induce  my  fellow- 
Premiers  to  come  the  moment  we  can  get  away 
without  infringing  etiquette." 

The  evening  arrived,  the  mansion  in  Berkeley 
Square  was  crowded  with  one  of  those  brilliant 

263 


Lord  Strathcona 

assemblages  which  illustrate  a  London  "season." 
Soon  after  ten  o'clock  the  royal  carriages  began  to 
arrive  in  quick  succession  and  a  series  of  individuals, 
resplendent  in  new  laced  coats,  knee-breeches,  and 
cocked  hats,  and  each  wearing  a  sword,  crossed  the 
threshold.  The  circumstance  of  the  Windsor  uni- 
form, which  would  otherwise  have  been  impossible, 
added  much  to  the  eclat  of  the  occasion.  Sir  Don- 
ald afterwards  spoke  to  me  of  the  general  sensa- 
tion produced  by  the  arrival  and  announcement 
of  "The  Honourable  Mr.  Wilfrid  Laurier,  Prime 
Minister  of  Her  Majesty's  Dominion  of  Canada." 

Such  was  the  popular  debut  in  London  of  a  states- 
man who  became  as  familiar  and  welcome  a  figure 
at  Imperial  reunions  as  any  in  the  galaxy  of  states- 
men from  overseas.1 

The  evening  was  not  to  pass  without  a  further 
episode.  By  special  messenger  from  Sir  Donald,  I 
received  a  copy  of  the  London  Gazette,  damp  from 
the  press.  The  company  was  first  to  learn  her 
Majesty's  gracious  intentions:  — 

To  be  a  Baron  of  the  United  Kingdom,  Sir  Donald 
Alexander  Smith,  K.C.M.G. 

Hardly  less  gratifying  was  the  announcement :  — • 

To  be  a  Grand  Cross  of  the  Order  of  St.  Michael 
and  St.  George,  Honourable  Wilfrid  Laurier. 

1  The  ignorance  of  the  Colonies,  rife  in  what  is  called  "Society," 
will  at  this  time  to  many  seem  incredible.  One  lady,  inviting  the 
Colonial  representative  to  a  garden  party,  addressed  a  special  request 
to  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  that  he  and  his  fellow-guests  from  overseas 
would  "kindly  appear  in  their  native  costumes."  The  letter  has 
been  preserved  as  a  curiosity. 

264 


Raised  to  the  Peerage 

To  Canada's  Prime  Minister  I  turned  with  the 
Gazette  in  my  hands,  proud  to  offer  my  congratula- 
tions, and  to  be  the  first  to  address  him  as  "Sir 
Wilfrid." 

From  Sir  Donald  A .  Smith 

You  are  indeed  very  kind  to  write  in  the  manner  you 
have  done  concerning  the  high  honour  Her  Majesty 
has  been  pleased  to  bestow  upon  my  unworthy  self. 
I  regard  it  as  one,  not  so  much  paid  to  me  as  to 
Canada,  and  I  think  it  will  generally  and  properly  be  so 
regarded. 

There  later  ensued  some  difficulty  in  the  choice 
of  a  title  for  the  new  peer.  Having  purchased  the 
interesting  Scottish  estate  of  Glencoe,  he  had  at 
first  contemplated  that  of  Baron  Glencoe,  but  a 
sentimental  local  opposition  developed  with  which 
he  himself  rather  sympathized.  The  title  of  Mon- 
treal had  been  conceded  to  Earl  Amherst.  A  com- 
promise was  effected.  Glencoe  —  the  glen  or  valley 
of  Conan  —  has  its  approximate  Gaelic  equivalent 
in  Strathcona.  Not  until  August,  on  the  eve  of  his 
departure  for  Canada,  was  the  High  Commissioner 
gazetted  "A  Baron  of  the  United  Kingdom  by  the 
name,  style,  and  title  of  Baron  Strathcona  and 
Mount  Royal,  of  Glencoe,  in  the  County  of  Argyll, 
and  of  Mount  Royal,  in  the  Province  of  Quebec  and 
Dominion  of  Canada."  1  Like  Lord  Mountstephen, 
Sir  Donald  Smith  thus  effected  in  his  new  title  a 

1  "  I  have  consulted  the  proper  authorities,"  he  wrote  (October 
20), "  and  find  that  it  is  not  necessary,  when  signing  my  name  on 
ordinary  occasions,  to  use  the  whole  of  my  title.  So  I  shall  hereafter 
confine  myself  to  'Strathcona'  only." 

265 


Lord  Strathcona 

happy  blending  of  Scottish  and  Canadian  associa- 
tions. 

On  his  first  visit  to  Glencoe  after  being  raised  to 
the  peerage  a  great  ovation  awaited  him,  and  he 
was  presented  with  an  illuminated  address  from  his 
tenants,  servants,  and  others  on  the  Glencoe  estate. 

Said  the  Montreal  Star:  — 

That  Canada's  new  peer  has  chosen  "Mount 
Royal"  as  one  of  his  titles  will  rejoice  all  Canadians 
who  live  under  the  shadow  of  the  Mount  itself.  Now 
that  he  has  selected  it,  that  title  seems  marvellously 
appropriate.  Mount  Royal  looks  down  on  many  a 
memento  of  the  Baron's  long  kindness  and  practi- 
cal philanthropy.  The  Royal  Hospital,  which  was  the 
gift  to  the  city  of  her  two  peers,  lies  just  at  its  foot ;  and 
a  little  to  the  right  are  the  grounds  of  McGill,  which 
no  one  can  visit  without  being  reminded  of  the  generos- 
ity of  "Sir  Donald,"  —  for  as  "Sir  Donald"  Montreal 
learned  to  love  him,  —  and  hard  it  will  be  to  think  of 
him  under  a  new  name. 

At  the  annual  Dominion  Day  Banquet  on  July  I , 
at  which  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  was  the  guest  of  hon- 
our, the  new  peer  led  the  way  in  a  Jubilee  rendering 
of  the  loyal  toasts,  and  it  was  pleasant  to  hear  the 
burst  of  enthusiasm  with  which  they  were  received. 
He  himself  was  greeted  with  exceptional  warmth, 
of  which  the  Marquess  of  Lome  supplied  the  ex- 
planation when  he  declared  his  chief  difficulty  to 
be,  how  to  address  their  chairman.  "He  has  not 
yet  confided  in  me  by  what  title  to  address  him. 
I  shall,  however,  make  no  mistake  if  I  call  him  and 
congratulate  him  as  Lord  High  Commissioner  for 

266 


"Lord  High  Commissioner" 

Canada"  —  a  happy  reference  most  happily  re- 
ceived. 

Next  came  the  "  Dominion  of  Canada,"  proposed 
by  Sir  Donald,  the  toastmaster  having  previously 
given  the  injunction  "Fill  your  bumpers  to  the  brim, 
if  you  please,  gentlemen."  "Canada,"  Sir  Donald 
said  with  patriotic  fervour,  "has  all  the  possibilities 
of  becoming  a  country  equal  to  that  of  their  friends 
on  the  south  of  the  boundary  line."  And  as  he 
went  on  to  pave  the  way  for  the  Premier  by  a 
sketch  of  the  steps  leading  up  to  the  position  which 
Confederated  Canada  holds  to-day,  "We  in  Can- 
ada," he  said,  "are  a  contented  people  and  we  are 
proud  to  feel  that  we  are  members,  and  not  unim- 
portant members,  of  this  great  Empire.  We  hope 
the  day  may  be  near  when  other  Colonies  will  take 
a  leaf  out  of  our  Federation  book.  How  could  the 
unity  and  devotion  of  Canada  to  the  Empire  be 
better  shown  than  by  the  presence  here  this  even- 
ing of  one  who,  though  not  an  Englishman,  is  as 
thoroughly  English  as  any  other?  We  may  not," 
added  Sir  Donald,  "have  seen  eye  to  eye  on  politi- 
cal matters;  still  I  never  was  a  very  great  partisan. 
I  look  perhaps  more  to  measures  than  to  men,  and 
feel,  as  every  one  here  must  feel,  that,  no  matter 
whether  Liberal  or  Tory  be  in  power,  Canadians 
will  exhibit  the  same  devotion  and  loyalty." 

Nearly  seventeen  years  of  work  and  achieve- 
ment lay  before  him;  yet,  when  he  sailed  for  Can- 
ada, a  peer  of  the  realm,  he  was  supposed  in  many- 
quarters  to  be  on  the  point  of  retirement  from  the 
High  Commissionership.  Frequent  were  the  refer- 

267 


Lord  Strathcona 

ences  to  gentlemen  who  were  prepared  to  succeed 
him.  A  proposal  was  even  put  forward  that  upon 
the  conclusion  of  the  Earl  of  Aberdeen's  term  as 
Governor-General,  Lord  Strathcona  should  be  ap- 
pointed his  successor. 

One  leading  Canadian  journal  strongly  advo- 
cated the  appointment.  "Canadians,  irrespective 
of  party,  taking  pride  in  his  character  and  career, 
would  like  to  see  him  at  Rideau  Hall.  His  claims 
were,  it  reasoned,  of  an  exceptional  character,  and 
he  would  take  rank  with  the  most  distinguished  sub- 
jects of  Her  Majesty's  who  have  filled  the  position." 

But  Lord  Strathcona  would  not  hear  of  such  a 
proposal.  In  his  opinion  it  would  "wholly  subvert 
the  happy  arrangement  which  had  existed  and 
ought  always  to  exist  between  the  central  political 
authority  and  the  outlying  parts.  The  Governor- 
Generalship,  having  always  been  held  by  a  non- 
Canadian,  was  a  material  factor  in  cementing  the 
relations  between  the  Dominion  and  the  Mother 
Country." 

He  even  disapproved  strongly  of  the  appoint- 
ment of  Lieutenant-Governors  from  the  same  Prov- 
ince. When  I  once  mentioned  to  him  that  a  certain 
politician  had  been  appointed  to  the  gubernato- 
rial chair  in  his  own  Province,  he  said,  "A  good 
man,  but  a  great  pity.  If  they  had  sent  him  West 
he  could  better  have  done  justice  to  himself.  His 
local  antecedents  will  hamper  him." 

That  aspect  of  his  peerage  which  pleased  him 
most  was  his  thus  becoming  a  member  of  the  Im- 
perial Parliament.  He  liked  to  think  of  himself  as 

268 


Colonial  Representation 

a  pioneer  of  the  future  band  of  Canadian  representa- 
tives at  Westminster.  Yet  he  recognized  the  diffi- 
culties in  the  way. 

The  idea  of  Colonial  representation  in  the  councils  of 
the  Empire  is  a  pleasing  one  to  the  Englishmen,  and  any 
feasible  scheme  will  be  eagerly  welcomed.  There  are, 
of  course,  many  difficulties  with  which  to  contend. 
There  is  the  question  of  taxation.  Taxation  without 
representation  is  objectionable;  but  representation 
without  taxation  is  hardly  possible ;  and  it  is  difficult  to 
say  how  far  the  people  of  the  Colonies  would  be  willing 
to  contribute  to  an  Imperial  fund. 

One  result  of  the  new  Canadian  tariff  and  of  Sir 
Wilfrid's  utterances,  however,  is  to  direct  British  at- 
tention very  strongly  to  our  country,  and  we  may 
expect  not  only  a  large  increase  in  our  trade  with 
Britain,  but  also  that  the  British  investor  and  capitalist 
will  be  more  willing  than  before  to  put  money  in  legiti- 
mate enterprises  in  Canada.  They  think  a  great  deal 
of  the  Colonies  in  England  just  now,  and  will  gladly 
assist  in  strengthening  the  ties  which  bind  them  to  the 
Mother  Country. 

He  recognized  that  there  was  much  useful 
"spade-work"  to  be  done.  The  Mother  Country 
and  Canada  must  be  drawn  together  gradually  by 
the  force  of  common  interests,  they  must  achieve  a 
unity  which  would  make  them  mutually  necessary. 
The  constitutional  changes  would  come  simply  and 
easily. 

On  his  return  to  England  in  September  he  plunged 
newly  into  his  official  duties.  Each  day  these  grew 
in  magnitude.  Besides  the  ordinary  routine,  in- 

269 


Lord  Strathcona 

volving  the  despatch  of  hundreds  of  letters  and 
giving  personal  interviews  to  callers,  there  were 
several  large  schemes  which  he  had  much  at  heart. 
At  this  time  the  chief  amongst  these  was  the  long- 
canvassed  plan  of  a  "fast  Atlantic  service"  by 
which  steamers  would  make  the  voyage  from  the 
British  Isles  to  a  Canadian  port  in  five  or  six  days. 
For  many  years  past,  the  lines  running  to  Canadian 
ports,  and  carrying  both  mails  and  passengers,  had 
had  imminent  over  their  heads  the  threat  of  a  fast 
and  heavily  subsidized  mail  service  of  which  they 
might  or  might  not  be  the  providers. 

It  is  impossible  [complained  one  of  them]  to  imagine 
anything  more  paralyzing  or  repressive  of  enterprise 
than  the  policy  which  the  Canadian  authorities  have 
followed.  While  larger  and  faster  steamers  have  been 
provided  for  the  New  York  passenger  service,  the 
steamship  lines  to  Canada  have  been  practically  com- 
pelled to  mark  time,  not  knowing  what  was  to  be  done. 

There  were  difficulties  about  making  terms  with 
the  Messrs.  Allan,  or  with  the  Dominion  or  Beaver 
lines.  But  the  prospect  that  the  British  Govern- 
ment would  also  assist  with  a  large  subsidy  tempted 
an  enterprising  contractor  named  Peterson  to  come 
forward  with  an  offer  to  operate  such  a  steamship 
system. 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

LONDON,  6th  October,  1897. 

As  shown  by  my  official  letters  of  to-day  and  cable 
message  to  your  address  of  the  25th  and  28th  Septem- 

270 


A  Fast  Atlantic  Service 

ber,  I  have  not  been  idle  since  my  return  from  Canada 
in  the  matter  of  the  "fast  Atlantic  service." 

My  cable  message  of  to-day  advises  you  that  Peter- 
son, Tate  &  Co.  have  paid  into  the  Bank  of  Montreal 
here  £10,000,  the  cash  guarantee  required  of  them  in 
connection  with  their  contract. 

Mr.  Peterson  has  been  with  me  to-day,  and  on  my 
pointing  out  to  him  that  securities  for  a  further  sum 
of  £10,000  must  be  lodged,  he  assured  me  that  this 
would  be  forthcoming  within  the  next  few  days  and  I 
think  we  may  count  on  this  being  carried  out.  There 
appears  to  be  every  reasonable  expectation  that  he  will 
be  able  to  form  a  company  with  the  required  capital, 
but  it  will  take  some  time  yet  before  he  can  complete  his 
arrangements,  and  until  he  has  secured  five  directors 
to  whom  no  objection  can  be  taken  and  until  the  whole 
of  the  capital  wanted  has  actually  been  underwritten 
by  men  or  firms  of  undoubted  financial  standing,  I 
cannot  recommend  that  your  Government  should  be 
directly  represented  on  the  board,  nor  until  then  would 
it  be  wise  in  my  opinion  to  approach  Mr.  Chamberlain 
on  the  subject,  with  the  view  of  having  a  director 
representing  the  Imperial  Government.  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain is  at  present  in  Switzerland,  but  is  expected  back 
soon. 

You  may  feel  assured  that  there  will  be  every  effort 
on  my  part  to  push  the  matter  on  to  a  satisfactory  con- 
clusion, but  to  insure  success  we  must  see  that  every 
step  taken  is  in  the  right  direction,  and  it  is  a  decided 
gain  that  Peterson  is  to  complete  his  deposit  without 
availing  himself  of  the  sixty  days  before  doing  so. 

To-day  I  had  an  opportunity  of  explaining  the  posi- 
tion to  Mr.  Fielding,  and  I  think  he  is  satisfied  that  we 
are  doing  all  that  is  possible  to  expedite  matters. 

271 


Lord  Strathcona 

With  regard  to  the  subject  the  Finance  Minister  has 
more  immediately  before  him,  that  of  the  proposed  loan, 
I  think  there  is  every  prospect  that  it  will  be  entirely 
satisfactory. 

But  it  soon  appeared  that  Mr.  Peterson  desired 
more  definite  backing  from  the  Government  and 
from  Lord  Strathcona  himself. 

From  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

OTTAWA,  9th  November,  1897. 

The  matter  of  the  fast  Atlantic  service,  we  think,  has 
reached  a  point  at  which  some  definite  conclusion,  one 
way  or  the  other,  must  be  taken. 

Mr.  Peterson  has  been  asking  us  recently  to  agree 
to  two  different  things:  First,  that  Milford  Haven 
should  be  the  terminus,  and  second,  that  you  should 
be  on  the  board  of  directors  of  the  company. 

With  regard  to  the  first  demand  concerning  Mil- 
ford  Haven,  this  is  a  point  which  must  be  left  for 
further  consideration,  when  everything  else  has  been 
settled.  As  to  your  going  on  the  board,  this  is  a  matter 
which  has  to  be  very  carefully  considered.  It  seems 
that  unless  something  is  done  to  help  him,  Peterson 
is  now  powerless  and  cannot  carry  out  his  contract. 
It  also  looks  as  if,  unless  you  undertake  yourself  to 
pull  him  through,  the  matter  must  fail.  The  question 
is  now  whether  it  would  be  too  great  an  undertaking 
to  ask  you  practically  to  organize  the  company  and 
make  it  a  success.  If  it  were  to  be  a  failure  ultimately, 
would  you  not  think  that  the  investors  would  hold  the 
Government  responsible  for  having  allowed  the  com- 
pany to  have  the  encouragement  of  the  presence  on  the 
board  of  the  High  Commissioner?  In  other  words,  we 

272 


Fast  Line  postponed 

think  that  it  would  not  be  advisable  for  you  to  accept 
a  position  on  the  board,  unless  your  judgment  is  clear 
that  the  whole  scheme  is  to  turn  out  well  financially, 
not  only  for  the  Government  of  Canada,  but  for  the 
investors  also.  Unless  you  are  satisfied  of  that,  we  think 
it  better  to  press  the  matter  to  a  conclusion  and  let 
the  contract  drop.  There  has  been  too  much  procrasti- 
nation already.  We  have  lost  one  season.  It  is  time 
that  we  should  be  prepared  to  put  the  matter  in  such 
a  shape  as  not  to  lose  another. 

The  jubilation  over  the  fast  line  was  premature. 
It  became  clear  that  the  projector  could  not  carry 
out  his  contract.  As  the  High  Commissioner  wrote : 

The  position  is  an  awkward  one,  but  I  am  not  with- 
out good  hopes  that  a  fast  Atlantic  service  can  still 
be  arranged  for  on  reasonable  terms,  and  I  shall  cer- 
tainly be  glad  to  aid  in  every  possible  way  in  accom- 
plishing this. 

For  the  present,  then,  the  fast  line  was  shelved. 
Lord  Strathcona  expressed  the  utmost  sympathy 
for  Mr.  Peterson,  whom  he  regarded  as  an  honour- 
able man,  who  did  his  utmost  to  supplement  his 
promise. 

It  was  too  much  for  him,  but  this  does  not  mean 
that  it  would  be  too  much  for  every  man.  I  received 
a  letter,  shortly  before  I  left  England,  from  one  of  the 
partners  in  a  large  shipbuilding  firm,  who  has  no 
interest  one  way  or  the  other  in  the  Canadian  service, 
and  who  said  that  Canada  should  never  consent  to 
anything  but  a  fast  service,  seeing  that  with  the 
recent  development  the  speed  of  the  great  Atlantic 
liners  would  be  increased.  Twenty  knots  was  the  least 

273 


Lord  Strathcona 

that  the  country  should  accept  was  the  opinion  of  this 
gentleman.  My  own  personal  opinion  is  that  Canada 
should  secure  the  very  fastest  service  for  such  subsidy 
as  she  can  afford  to  give.  To  accept  anything  less 
would  be  unfair  to  those  companies  which  are  already 
in  the  business,  and  which  supply  an  ordinary  speed. 
Of  course  I  do  not  speak  of  any  temporary  arrange- 
ment. I  mean  the  contract  for  the  fast  service.  This 
should  be  modern  in  every  sense,  and  the  fastest 
which  could  be  obtained.  No  permanent  subsidy 
should  be  given  for  a  comparatively  slow  service  which 
would  enter  into  competition  with  that  which  we 
already  possess. 

He  had  serious  thoughts  of  taking  the  whole  pro- 
ject on  his  own  shoulders  and  carrying  it  through. 
From  this  he  was  eventually  dissuaded,  but  it  had 
long  an  attraction  for  him.  Before  many  years  had 
passed  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company  en- 
tered the  Atlantic  steamship  field,  with  vessels  of 
a  superior  class. 

Meanwhile,  Lord  Strathcona  had  been  making 
numerous  speeches  throughout  the  Kingdom. 
Replying  at  a  dinner  of  the  Walsall  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  on  October  21,  to  the  toast  "To  the 
Colonies,"  he  expressed  the  earnest  hope  that  be- 
fore long  the  Australian  Colonies  would  not  be  dis- 
tinct or  separate,  but  united  in  a  commonwealth 
embracing  the  whole  of  their  vast  territories.  He 
hoped  also  to  see  a  similar  Federation  in  Africa, 
and  another  in  the  West  Indian  Islands. 

There  was  [he  continued]  a  short  time  back  a  denun- 
ciation of  certain  treaties  which  had  a  very  great  in- 

274 


No  Separate  Nationality 

fluence  in  keeping  the  Colonies  from  that  closer  com- 
mercial union  with  the  Mother  Country  which  they 
were  all  desirous  to  have.  He  thought  it  was  not  too 
much  to  say  that  to  Canada  it  was  in  some  measure 
owing  that  the  denunciation  of  these  treaties  had  come 
at  the  present  moment.  Canada  was  desirous  of  show- 
ing that  she  would  be  heart  and  hand  with  the  Mother 
Country  in  everything  that  was  in  the  best  interest  of 
both,  and  offered  to  England  a  preference  in  commer- 
cial matters  which  she  would  not  give  to  the  other 
nations.  If  that  preference  had  not  been  carried  out  in 
its  entirety,  it  was  not  the  fault  of  Canada.  It  was 
because  of  treaty  requirements  with  Belgium,  Ger- 
many, and  other  countries.  There  had,  too,  been  the 
difficulty  about  the  rate  of  duty  which  would  be 
imposed  by  the  United  States  on  goods  imported 
through  Canada.  That,  however,  he  was  glad  to  say, 
had  been  disposed  of  happily  for  Canada,  and  by  July 
next  the  treaties  would  be  got  rid  of,  and  there  would 
be  a  clear  gain  of  twenty- five  per  cent  for  England, 
upon  the  goods  affected. 

They  would  welcome  all  who  were  willing  to  work 
and  determined  to  take  a  part  in  making  Canada  not 
only  what  she  must  become,  a  very  great  nation,  not 
a  separate  nation,  but  one  in  the  closest  comity  with 
the  English  nation.  Such  a  toast  as  that  he  had  the 
honour  of  responding  to  would  not  have  been  possible 
a  few  years  ago,  but  it  was  rising  to  importance,  and 
would  continue  to  grow.  The  progress  of  to-day  would 
be  as  nothing  to  that,  not  of  fifty  years  hence, — for 
that  was  a  lifetime, — but  of  five  and  twenty  years 
hence. 

He  returned  to  the  same  thought  at  the  Master 
Cutlers'  Feast  at  Sheffield  in  the  following  month. 

275 


Lord  Strathcona 

It  is  only  a  few  years  that  we  have  to  look  back 
when  it  would  have  been  one  of  our  very  last  hopes, 
that  this  great  corporation,  or  any  English  corporation, 
would  have  brought  forward  as  a  distinct  or  separate 
toast  that  of  "The  Colonies."  True,  it  was  coupled 
in  former  days  with  shipping  and  commerce,  but, 
happily,  there  is  now  a  better  order  of  things  with 
regard  to  all  portions  of  the  Empire,  and  I  think  the 
toast  of  "The  Colonies"  may  very  well  and  properly 
now  find  place  amongst  those  that  are  offered  on  such 
occasions  as  this.  What  do  the  Colonies  consist  of? 
Or  what  is  the  difference  between  now  and  sixty  years 
ago?  The  population  of  the  whole  Empire  was  about 
127,000,000;  now  it  is  383,000,000.  The  area  now  is 
1 1,500,000  of  square  miles,  something  like  one  fifth  the 
area  of  the  world.  Canada  alone,  the  Colony  of  which 
I  know  most,  has  about  3,500,000,  or  about  one  third 
of  the  whole  of  those  11,500,000.  So  that  it  is  meet 
"The  Colonies"  should  appear.  It  has  been  most 
gratifying  to  Colonists,  this  sixtieth  year  of  Her 
Majesty's  reign,  to  find  that  they  have  been  received 
amongst  you  as  brothers,  as  fellow-Englishmen  —  and 
I  will  say  for  Canada  that  we  appreciate  most  highly 
and  that  we  are  grateful  for  the  way  in  which  our  Prime 
Minister  and  those  detachments  which  came  from 
Canada  were  received  into  the  hearts  of  Englishmen. 
And  it  was  a  great  object  lesson,  that  he  who  repre- 
sents Canada,  elected  to  that  position  by  the  whole 
of  the  people  of  the  Dominion,  by  far  the  majority  of 
whom  are  themselves  English  and  English-speaking, 
was  himself  of  French  descent.  Nothing  I  think  could 
show  more  the  solidarity  and  the  unity  of  Canada  than 
this  fact,  which  demonstrates  to  our  friends  in  Great 
Britain,  and  also  I  think  to  the  nations,  that  no 

276 


"  Lest  we  forget ! ' 

matter  what  the  mother  tongue  of  the  individual  in 
the  Colonies,  they  are  one  and  all  loyal  and  devoted 
to  their  Queen. 

Speaking  at  a  reception  at  the  Canadian  Camp  at 
Bisley  in  this  memorable  summer,  the  High  Com- 
missioner said  that  while  he  had  hoped  that  the 
Canadian  Team  would  again  carry  off  the  coveted 
Queen's  Prize,  "as  subjects  of  a  common  Sovereign, 
Victoria,  they  could  all  rejoice  in  the  victory  of  the 
Victorians." 

During  the  Jubilee  proceedings  the  visiting  sol- 
diers of  the  Queen  had  been  the  recipients  of  marked 
attention.  " Indeed,"  he  went  on  to  say,  "it  could 
not  be  otherwise,  for  although  they  come  from 
various  countries,  widely  separated,  they  were  all 
one  people  as  subjects  of  the  Queen."  Speaking 
for  Canada,  and  he  was  sure  he  equally  echoed  the 
sentiment  of  the  other  Colonies,  he  could  repeat  a 
declaration  of  loyalty  and  devotion  to  the  Queen 
and  to  the  Empire  which  was  one  with  the  feelings 
of  their  fellow-subjects  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
While  much  had  been  said  about  the  loyalty  of  the 
Colonies,  it  really  was  not  one  whit  more  necessary 
to  declare  it  than  it  was  on  the  part  of  their  friends 
and  relations  of  the  Mother  Country.  All  consid- 
ered themselves  equally  Englishmen,  and  were  nat- 
urally and  equally  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of 
the  British  Empire  in  its  entirety. 

It  had  been  a  great  and  distinguished  year  — • 
this  of  the  Diamond  Jubilee  —  the  year  in  which,  it 
may  truly  be  said,  the  British  Empire  found  itself. 
No  longer  were  the  "wretched  Colonies"  "mill- 

277 


Lord  Strathcona 

stones"  about  the  neck  of  the  Mother  Country: 
but  stalwart  and  loving  children  gathered  in  amity 
at  her  knee.  To  the  old  apathy  and  distrust  there 
would  be  no  return.  No  wonder  if  the  jubilation 
was  a  little  unbalancing  for  the  moment  —  that 
enthusiasts  for  a  united  Empire  should  rush  to 
Utopian  extremes.  But  the  sober  sense  of  the 
nation  recovered  itself  at  a  word  spoken  in  season. 
In  the  Times  one  morning  appeared  five  stanzas 
entitled  "  Recessional."  These,  Lord  Strathcona,  in 
common,  doubtless,  with  thousands  of  others,  had 
cut  out  and  committed  to  memory.  A  few  days 
later  I  found  them  lying  before  him  on  his  desk 
and  he  spoke  of  them.  "They  should, "he said,  "find 
a  place  in  the  hymnal  of  every  Church."  It  was 
the  very  voice  and  lyre  of  David  of  Israel :  — 

"The  tumult  and  the  shouting  dies  — 
The  Captains  and  the  Kings  depart  — 
Still  stands  thine  ancient  sacrifice, 
An  humble  and  a  contrite  heart. 
Lord  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget  —  lest  we  forget! " 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  EMIGRATION  MOVEMENT 
1896-1914 

OUR  great  need  is  people  —  men  and  women.  They 
are  required  for  the  millions  of  acres  of  land  that  are 
given  away  and  are  only  waiting  to  be  occupied  and 
cultivated  to  provide  happy  homes  for  any  number 
of  people.  They  are  wanted  also  to  'develop  more 
rapidly  the  great  wealth  of  the  country,  its  agricul- 
ture, its  fisheries,  its  forests,  its  mines,  and  its  manu- 
factures. Increase  of  population  cannot  fail  to  add  to 
the  wealth  and  strength  of  the  Empire.  You  will  be 
doing  good  service  to  your  country  if  you  will  help  to 
make  Canada  better  known  whenever  you  may  have  an 
opportunity  of  doing  so.  Sometimes  it  is  the  custom 
to  sneer  at  emigration,  and  at  the  work  of  those  who 
promote  it ;  but  I  think  this  a  great  error.  We  possess 
a  fair  proportion  of  the  unoccupied  parts  of  the  earth 
most  suitable  for  the  settlement  of  Europeans.  The 
opening-up  of  the  resources  of  Canada,  for  instance, 
not  only  means  a  greater  and  cheaper  food  supply  for 
those  that  are  at  home,  but  a  sure  and  steadily  in- 
creasing market  for  those  manufactures  which  are 
exported  in  such  quantities  from  the  Mother  Land, 
and  upon  which  its  prosperity  so  much  depends.  In 
fact,  emigration  is  good  for  those  who  go,  and  good 
for  those  who  remain  behind,  and  certainly  for  those 
families  which  have  an  inducement  to  emigrate,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  it  enables  them  to  make  better 

279 


Lord  Strathcona 

provision  for  their  children  —  a  desire  which  is  para- 
mount in  the  minds  of  most  people.1 

I  propose  in  this  chapter  to  glance  at  one  or  two 
aspects  of  the  remarkable  Canadian  emigration 
propaganda,  chiefly  on  the  continent  of  Europe, 
whose  history  dates  from  1896.  No  such  propa- 
ganda, so  vast,  so  ingenious,  so  insistent  and  dra- 
matic had  ever  been  attempted  in  history,  even 
by  the  United  States  of  America.  The  era  of  what 
Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  once  so  happily  called  Canada's 
"spectacular  development"  (1896-1913)  coincides 
so  exactly  with  the  term  of  Lord  Strathcona's  High 
Commissionership,  and  is,  moreover,  so  intimately 
connected  with  the  policy  of  emigration  which  he 
fostered,  that  it  is  little  surprising  that  an  eminent 
Canadian  public  man  should  already  refer  to  it  as 
the  "Strathcona  period."2 

Speaking  for  myself  [wrote  Lord  Strathcona,  in  the 
early  stages  of  this  campaign],  I  would  prefer  to  fill  up 
our  enormous  tract  of  vacant  lands  with  settlers  from 
the  British  Isles.  But  the  returning  prosperity  of 
British  agriculture  makes  this  increasingly  difficult, 
and  our  lands  only  allow  for  people  who  may  become 
loyal  and  prosperous  British  subjects. 

In  Britain  and  Ireland,  Canada  was  free  to  make 
propaganda,  to  reach  the  emigrating  class  in  any 
way  she  chose.  There  were  no  restrictions  of  any 

1  Lord  Strathcona,  Address  at  Birmingham,  November,  1899. 

1  "  Hereafter  our  development  is  likely  to  be  slower  and  on  more 
normal  lines  than  those  which  the  future  historians  may  call  the 
'Strathcona  period.'  "  (Sir  George  Ross,  February,  1914.) 

280 


Prohibitions  and  Restrictions 

kind  from  Government  or  from  the  police.  On  the 
Continent,  however,  active  hostility  was  evinced 
toward  emigration  from  the  various  Governments; 
there  was  a  police  system  which  was  hourly  in- 
truded into  the  daily  lives  of  the  people,  and  a  whole 
series  of  laws  which  absolutely  prohibited  emigra- 
tion propaganda  and  surrounded  the  mere  sale  of 
tickets  to  would-be  emigrants  with  restrictions  and 
regulations  which  "did  not  simply  harass,  but 
paralyzed." 

Were  not  the  existence  of  this  condition  notorious, 
it  would  be  easy  to  enumerate  these  prohibitions  and 
restrictions  to  a  wearisome  extent.  They  come,  how- 
ever, well  within  your  own  knowledge  and  experience, 
and  it  will  be  obvious  to  you  that  special  expenditure 
and  special  lines  of  effort  are  necessitated  by  such 
conditions,  even  to  the  payment  of  Continental  rail- 
way fare  to  port  of  embarkation  and  of  the  Canadian 
railway  fare  to  destination  in  the  North-West.1 

Thereafter  began  a  long  struggle  against  the  dis- 
abilities under  which  Canada  has  been  placed  by 
certain  European  authorities.  In  its  propaganda* 
Canada  was  served  by  a  force  of  emigration  agents 
who  were  paid  a  bonus  of  so  much  per  capita.  The 
difficulties  which  the  Canadian  Government  alone 
could  aid  these  agents  to  evade  successfully  were 
those  difficulties  eloquently  indicated  by  the  emi- 
gration laws  of  the  various  countries.  Every  emi- 
grant who  was  induced  to  leave  Germany,  Austria, 
or  Russia  was  so  induced  by  an  evasion  of  the 

1  Letter  to  the  Honourable  Clifford  Sifton. 
281 


Lord  Strathcona 

emigration  laws  prevailing  in  such  countries,  and 
he  could,  generally  speaking,  be  secured  in  no  other 
way.  A  Hamburg  agent,  for  example,  not  only  held 
a  concession  from  the  Hamburg  Government,  but 
also  from  each  German  State,  all  of  which  have 
separate  regulations.  He  is  liable  at  any  moment 
to  be  fined  by  any  of  these  States  for  a  supposed 
breach  of  their  varying  regulations,  such  as  sending 
a  map  of  Canada  to  a  man  who  did  not  actually  ask 
for  it,  or  who  thought  it  prudent  to  deny  having 
asked  for  it.  These  fines  are  frequent  and  range 
from  five  pounds  upwards,  and  they  naturally  con- 
stitute a  somewhat  substantial  "disability."  Any 
action  tending  to  increase  the  revenue  of  these 
agents  made  the  fines  more  easy  to  support,  and 
consequently  Lord  Strathcona  was  urged  to  in- 
crease the  bonus  paid  to  the  agents. 

Another  suggestion  was  that  the  Government 
should  seek  to  promote  a  movement  from  the  Con- 
tinent by  paying  the  railway  fares  of  emigrants 
to  the  port  of  embarkation.  This  would  vary  from 
seven  to  thirty  shillings  per  head,  according  to  dis- 
tance. There  was  also  the  creation  of  a  fund  by 
which  the  Canadian  railway  fare  from  the  port  of 
debarkation  to  the  destination  on  the  North-West 
might  also,  and  in  select  cases,  be  in  part  or  alto- 
gether defrayed. 

On  the  whole,  it  was  clear  that  Canada  must  of- 
fer more  advantages  to  the  emigrants  and  to  the 
agents,  in  view  of  what  was  being  done  to  promote 
emigration  from  the  Continent  to  Brazil,  to  the 
Argentine  Republic,  and  to  Chili.  These  embraced 

282 


Evading  Emigration  Laws 

free  passages,  free  grants  of  land,  and  money  ad- 
vanced with  which  to  start  farming.1 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

8th  October,  1896. 

We  must  be  careful  what  we  do  in  the  direction  of 
encouraging  any  direct  evasion  of  the  laws  in  the 
different  countries.  The  fact  that  this  has  been  done 
in  the  past  led  to  a  rescript  on  the  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Hanover  (through  the  activity  of  a  railway 
agent),  forbidding  steamship  agents  to  book  passen- 
gers to  Manitoba.  The  payment  of  the  railway  fares 
on  the  Continent  to  the  ports  of  embarkation,  and  in 
Canada  from  the  ports  of  debarkation  to  destination, 
would  involve  an  expenditure  which  Parliament  might 
hesitate  to  approve  of,  and  the  same  remark  applies 

1  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  1896,  in  the  case  of  Chili,  they 
were  as  follows:  — 

Payment  of  the  passage  from  Liverpool  to  Chili. 

Free  railway  transportation  from  port  of  landing  to  destination. 

Daily  advance  of  sixpence  for  every  adult  and  threepence  for  every 
child  from  the  day  of  landing  to  the  day  of  arrival  on  land. 

Provision  to  colonist  of  pair  of  oxen,  gear  for  field  and  road,  plough, 
wooden  cart,  150  planks,  and  60  pounds  of  nails. 

Free  land  grant  of  170  acres  to  the  colonist  and  74  acres  for  every 
son  above  twelve  years  of  age. 

An  advance  of  thirty  shillings  per  month  during  first  year  of  instal- 
lation. 

The  supply  of  uprooting  machinery  when  necessary. 

Free  medical  assistance  and  medicine  for  first  two  years. 

The  full  amount  to  be  repaid  without  interest,  in  fifths  of  the 
total  amount,  such  repayments  to  begin  after  the  expiration  of  three 
years. 

These  conditions  were  more  liberal  than  those  offered  by  Brazil, 
and  perhaps  by  the  Argentine,  but  even  the  Brazilian  Government 
offered  free  passages  and  special  advantages  in  regard  to  land  and 
advances. 

283 


Lord  Strathcona 

to  the  advancing  of  money  to  emigrants  for  other 
purposes.  It  would  be  difficult  to  restrict  the  classes  of 
people  and  countries  to  which  such  concessions  were 
given,  and  not  only  would  it  be  open  to  considerable 
abuse,  in  view  of  the  contiguity  of  Canada  and  the 
United  States,  but  it  might  also  lead  to  our  getting 
into  difficulties  with  some  of  the  Continental  Govern- 
ments. This  applies  to  the  use  of  cars  also,  especially 
in  Germany,  Austria,  and  Russia. 

What  was  urgently  needed,  in  the  High  Com- 
missioner's opinion,  was:  — 

More  advertising,  better  pamphlets,  a  system  of 
carefully  selected  returned  men;  the  continuance  of  the 
agent's  bonus,  the  appointment  of  a  travelling  Govern- 
ment agent,  closer  relations  with  the  great  Continental 
lines  and  their  agents,  and  the  equalization  of  the  rates 
to  our  North- West  from  American  and  Canadian  ports. 

With  regard  to  pamphlets:  — 

We  ought  to  have  three  distinct  leaflets  in  German, 
in  Swedish,  in  Norwegian,  and  in  Czech  and  Finnish, 
the  general  matter  to  deal  largely  with  the  German  or 
Scandinavian  colonies  in  Canada,  as  the  case  may 
be,  with  letters  from  German,  Swedish,  Norwegian,  or 
Danish  settlers  respectively  for  the  pamphlet  intended 
to  be  circulated  in  the  respective  countries.  This 
leaflet  should  be  from  24  to  36  pages,  but  not  larger. 
We  should  want  about  70,000  leaflets  —  30,000  in 
German,  20,000  Swedish,  and  20,000  Norwegian,  and 
a  few  in  the  other  languages. 

A  Scandinavian  had  recently  visited  the  North- 
West  under  the  auspices  of  the  Department  of  the 

284 


Distributing  Literature 

Interior,  and  had  written  a  report  of  its  advantages. 
Lord  Strathcona  urged  that  this  brochure  should 
be  printed  in  Norwegian  and  Swedish,  and  about 
25,000  to  30,000  in  each  language.  In  addition  he 
wrote :  — 

About  40,000  handbooks  similar  to  those  at  pres- 
ent in  use,  but  improved,  would  be  needed  —  20,000 
German,  10,000  Norwegian,  and  10,000  Swedish.  We 
want  some  good  photographs  of  German  and  Scandi- 
navian farms  in  the  North-West  for  illustrating  the 
pamphlets.  This  is  important.  What,  however,  is  even 
more  important  is  a  number  of  letters  written  by 
German  and  Scandinavian  settlers,  stating  the  places 
on  the  Continent  from  which  they  came  when  they 
arrived  in  Canada,  their  experiences  and  their  progress, 
over  their  names  and  addresses  in  Canada. 

There  are  free  libraries  in  many  places  on  the  Conti- 
nent the  same  as  in  England,  and  a  quantity  of  the 
literature  in  question  could  be  usefully  distributed 
through  such  channels  as  well  as  through  the  school- 
masters. 

Of  course,  we  labour  under  a  disadvantage  on  the 
Continent.  Both  Scandinavian  and  German  emigra- 
tion has  been  proceeding  to  the  United  States  for  the 
last  fifty  years.  Most  of  the  people  in  the  different 
parts  of  the  United  States  have  friends  on  the  Conti- 
nent, with  whom  they  are  no  doubt  in  frequent  com- 
munication, and  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  largest 
proportion  of  the  Continental  emigrants  go  out  to 
join  their  friends.  The  remainder,  what  may  be  called 
free  emigration,  is  comparatively  small,  but  it  is,  not 
unnaturally,  influenced  by  the  direction  in  which  their 
friends  and  acquaintances  may  go.  Within  the  last 

285 


Lord  Strathcona 

ten  years  we  have  had  several  thousands  of  emigrants 
coming  within  the  latter  description,  and,  in  the 
course  of  time,  a  satisfactory  nucleus  will  no  doubt 
be  formed,  which  will  attract  automatically  further 
immigration.  But  in  the  mean  time  we  must  go  on 
working,  spending  money  in  encouraging  agents,  in 
advertising,  and  in  printing,  so  as  to  keep  Canada 
before  the  people. 

I  may  add  that,  on  the  Continent,  particularly  in 
Scandinavia,  emigrants  seem  to  prefer  to  travel  by  the 
fastest  lines,  and  the  newest  steamers  —  conditions 
which,  coupled  with  other  circumstances,  tend  to  re- 
strict the  direct  movement  to  Canada. 

One  of  the  German  agents  expresses  grave  doubts 
as  to  the  wisdom  of  our  distributing  pamphlets.  He 
claims  it  is  much  better  to  carry  on  the  work  personally. 
He  adds  that  while  many  of  the  people  cannot  or  will 
not  read  the  pamphlets,  they  do  get  into  the  hands 
of  the  authorities  when  sent  through  the  post  and 
thus  they  are  informed  of  our  endeavours  to  promote 
emigration. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  we  must  keep  up  the  pam- 
phlets, but  they  must  be  improved,  a  matter  to  be  re- 
ferred to  later  on.  It  stands  to  reason  that  if  we  hope 
to  get  more  emigration  it  must  be  by  means  of  educa- 
tion, and  that  can  only  be  effected  by  advertisements 
and  pamphlets  of  an  attractive  nature,  written  in 
moderate  language,  so  as  not  to  lay  ourselves  open  to 
the  charge  of  exaggeration,  and  circulated  with  dis- 
cretion. Many  of  the  agents,  in  giving  me  suggestions 
about  the  improvement  in  our  methods,  have  an  eye, 
no  doubt,  on  the  main  chance,  and  hope  to  get  some- 
thing more  out  of  it  than  they  do  at  present. 

There  is  little  or  no  emigration  from  Holland,  and 

286 


Obstacles  in  the  Way 

what  there  is  goes  to  South  Africa.  We  get  a  certain 
amount  of  emigration  from  Belgium;  but  it  might  be 
increased  if  we  advertised  more  there  and  dissemi- 
nated information  to  a  greater  extent  than  we  do  now. 
In  France  we  have  been  getting  more  emigrants 
during  the  last  two  or  three  years,  but  by  the  laws  and 
regulations  in  force,  emigration  is  not  allowed  except- 
ing by  vessels  sailing  from  French  ports.  Therefore,  in 
the  past,  except  occasionally,  when  vessels  have  left 
France  direct  for  Canada,  our  chance  of  getting  emi- 
grants has  been  comparatively  small.  They  may  go 
by  way  of  New  York  and  to  Eastern  Canada,  as  these 
rates  compare  favourably  with  those  from  Montreal, 
but  to  the  West,  as  you  will  be  aware,  we  labour  under 
a  disadvantage.  We  ought  to  endeavour  to  open  up 
communication  with  the  Compagnie  Generate  Trans- 
atlantique. 

On  another  occasion  he  writes:  — 

With  reference  to  the  obstacles  put  in  the  way  of 
emigration  to  Canada,  I  have  many  proofs  that  the 
Austrian  Government,  by  often  declining  passports 
to  intending  emigrants,  hinder  them  from  leaving  the 
country.  In  addition  the  German  lines  have  given  a 
guarantee  to  the  Russian  Government  for  all  passen- 
gers arriving  from  Austria  and  Russia.  This  hinders 
the  passage  of  such  people  across  the  frontiers,  and 
through  Prussia,  unless  they  book  with  them,  and 
as  there  is  little  connection  between  Germany  and 
Canada,  the  agents  at  the  frontier  stations  induce 
passengers  with  some  success  to  go  to  other  countries, 
for  instance,  the  United  States,  South  America,  or 
South  Africa,  with  which  they  have  direct  steam 
communication. 

287 


Lord  Strathcona 

In  Russia  the  situation  is  very  similar,  while  in 
Germany  it  is  difficult  for  a  certain  class  of  emigrants 
to  leave  the  country,  namely,  for  young  men  between 
seventeen  and  forty-five,  who  in  many  cases  cannot 
get  a  military  passport,  especially  if  the  authorities 
think  there  is  some  chance  of  the  men  leaving  Ger- 
many forever.  How  dangerous  it  is  for  unlicensed 
agents  to  do  business  you  will  perhaps  have  heard  of 
before,  but  it  is  even  more  dangerous  for  licensed 
agents  when  found  to  have  persuaded  any  one  to  go  out. 

An  arrangement  has  been  made  with  the  German 
lines  in  consideration  of  their  withdrawing  their  com- 
petition with  the  British  lines  in  Scandinavia  and 
Finland.  As  a  consequence  the  British  lines  are  not 
allowed  to  carry  more  than  six  per  cent  of  the  emigra- 
tion from  the  Continent  (except  as  before  mentioned), 
the  other  ninety-four  per  cent  being  retained  by  the 
German  lines.  If  the  British  carry  more  than  six  per 
cent  of  the  traffic,  they  have  to  make  a  certain  payment 
per  head  to  the  Continental  lines;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  if  they  do  not  get  six  per  cent,  they  receive  a 
certain  payment  per  head  (at  present  rates  it  is  three 
pounds  per  adult)  on  the  number  required  to  make 
up  that  proportion.  This  is  the  arrangement  effected 
by  the  North  Atlantic  Conference  which  includes  the 
Canadian  lines.  You  will  readily  understand,  there- 
fore, that  it  is  not  in  the  interests  of  the  British  lines 
to  encourage  emigration  from  the  Continent.  Their 
agents,  however,  usually  represent  the  German  lines 
as  well.  As  most  of  the  vessels  of  the  latter  sail  to  New 
York,  the  agreement  to  which  I  have  referred  must 
operate  injuriously  upon  emigration  to  Manitoba  and 
the  North-West  from  the  Continent.  It  emphasizes 
what  was  mentioned  in  my  previous  letter  —  that  we 

288 


Russian  Hostility 


can  never  hope  to  secure  a  large  emigration  from  the 
Continent  until  we  manage  in  some  way  or  other  to 
secure  the  cooperation  of  the  two  great  German  lines, 
the  North-German  Lloyd,  and  the  Hamburg- American 
Steamship  Company.  The  arrangement  does  not  ma- 
terially affect  emigration  to  the  United  States,  but 
it  does  operate  prejudicially  so  far  as  Canada  is  con- 
cerned, in  view  of  the  higher  inland  rates  from  Ameri- 
can ports  to  our  North- West. 

Of  course  this  active  propaganda  instantly  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  foreign  Governments.  As 
early  as  the  summer  of  1896,  the  Russian  Minister 
of  the  Interior,  M.  Yermoleff,  notified  several  of  the 
Provincial  Governors  that  "signs  of  the  coming 
revival  of  the  pernicious  activity  of  emigration 
agents  are  becoming  manifest." 

Inasmuch  as  the  facts  set  forth  denote  the  possi- 
bility of  wholesale  emigration  which  undermines  the 
regular  development  of  domestic  economy,  and  is  ruin- 
ous for  the  population,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior 
requests  the  General  Governor  to  take  suitable  meas- 
ures for  the  suppression  of  the  movement. 

I  request  you,  on  the  smallest  manifestation  of  an 
emigration  movement,  to  personally,  as  well  as  through 
the  medium  of  the  police  organization  under  you, 
point  out  to  the  population  the  real  position,  as  well  as 
the  illegality,  of  their  leaving  the  Mother  Country  of 
their  own  accord,  and  especially  to  draw  their  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  over  and  above  irreparable 
material  damage,  criminal  responsibility  is  set  on  them 
for  deserting  the  Mother  Country  and  secretly  crossing 
the  border. 

289 


Lord  Strathcona 

Explanations  and  denials  of  false  reports  on  emigra- 
tion must  be  given  with  particular  care  in  order  not  to 
give  place  to  a  wrong  supposition  that  they  are  given 
in  the  interest  of  the  landowners  who  are  afraid  of  los- 
ing cheap  labor. 

It  is  further  recommendable  to  carefully  keep  a 
lookout  on  any  movement  which  may  arise  in  favour 
of  emigration  and  in  case  of  a  party  setting  out  to 
arrest  those  interested  and  convey  them  back  to  their 
former  place  of  abode. 

As  a  preventative  against  the  carrying-on  of  emigra- 
tion by  means  of  passes,  certificates  stating  that  there 
is  no  impediment  to  foreign  travel  should  only  be 
issued  to  taxpayers  (by  which  every  one,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  nobility  and  merchants,  is  meant)  with 
the  greatest  discretion. 

From  a  point  of  view  proven  by  experience,  the 
emigration  movement  is  not  only  evoked  by  the  agi- 
tation of  foreign  emigration  companies,  who,  with 
the  aid  and  assistance  of  local  agents,  issue  proclama- 
tions with  promises  of  sure  subsistence  and  other 
inducements,  but  also  through  the  participation  in  this 
propaganda  of  a  certain  class  of  individuals  who  specu- 
late on  easily  acquiring  the  hastily  and  rashly  disposed 
of  property  of  the  emigrants.  I,  therefore,  request 
you  to  use  all  means  in  your  power  to  ascertain  the 
whereabouts  of  emigration  agents  and  their  abettors, 
supporting  in  any  way  this  illegal  traffic,  and  in  ac- 
cordance with  paragraph  328  of  the  law,  bring  same 
to  justice. 

In  case  of  a  judicial  pursuit  being  impossible,  en- 
deavour must  be  made  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of 
increased  protection  (Exceptional  Law)  and  the  results 
reported  to  me  to  enable  me  to  bring  about  an  admin- 

290 


German  Official  Disfavour 

istrative  expulsion  of  the  said  people  from  the  respect- 
ive district. 

Close  watch  is  to  be  kept  on  those  individuals  who 
have  proven  their  untrustworthiness  through  various 
dishonourable  actions,  they  forming  the  class  desirous 
of  enriching  themselves  at  their  neighbours'  cost  and 
are  always  ready  to  place  themselves  at  the  dispo- 
sition of  those  people  engaged  with  the  enlistment 
of  emigrants.  A  special  outlook  should,  therefore,  be 
kept  on  such  persons,  and,  on  the  faintest  signs  of  an 
emigration  movement,  the  Exceptional  Law  be  brought 
to  bear  on  them. 

Further  I  request  all  sheriffs  to  make  enquiries  into 
the  present  sentiments  of  the  population  on  emigration, 
examine  the  source  of  all  rumours,  take  the  necessary 
measures,  and  inform  me  without  delay  on  any  note- 
worthy features  and  developments.1 

Similarly  all  over  the  Continent  the  High  Com- 
missioner's emigration  propaganda  met  with  severe 
official  disfavour. 

In  Germany  and  Austria,  emigration  could  not  be 
directly  forbidden  in  consequence  of  the  free  con- 
stitution and  free  movement  law,  but  for  want  of  a 
uniform  emigration  law,  police  instructions  were 
issued,  whereby  a  concession  from  the  States  must 
be  obtained  before  transportation  orders  could  be 
issued,  and  the  State  was  empowered  —  if  it  was 
thought  fit  —  to  refuse  the  concession  or  with- 
draw a  concession  already  granted  without  stating 
reasons.  Should  a  concession  be  granted  a  clause 
was  inserted  whereby  the  holder  was  forbidden 

1  Confidential  circular  addressed  to  sheriffs  and  police  officers 
from  the  office  of  the  Governor,  Secret  Department,  Wilna,  July  3. 

291 


Lord  Strathcona 

"to  incite  to  emigration  through  publicity  or  distri- 
bution of  printed  matter,  through  correspondence 
or  by  oral  communication  with  the  population  in 
any  way."  Information  and  transportation  orders 
might  be  issued  only  on  the  application  of  persons 
who  had  decided  to  emigrate.  Violation  of  these 
instructions  was  punished  with  a  fine  or  imprison- 
ment. Non-concession  agents  issuing  transpor- 
tation orders  or  information  were  punished  with 
imprisonment. 

In  Austria  efforts  are  being  made  to  form  an  Emi- 
gration Law.  For  the  present,  however,  an  Austro- 
Hungarian  Colonization  Company  has  been  established 
after  the  style  of  the  German  Colonization  Company, 
and  this  institution  has  the  improvement  of  emigra- 
tion ways  and  means  in  view  and  the  abolishment  of 
agents  as  far  as  possible ;  to  this  effect  they  have  been 
furnished  by  the  Government  with  far-reaching  power. 
We  have  been  in  touch  with  the  leading  directors  of 
the  said  concern  and  believe  in  the  course  of  time  to 
have  great  influence  on  the  working  of  the  company. 

The  emigration  question  is:  To  which  part  the  stream 
of  emigration  will  turn.  In  Austria,  as  in  Germany, 
Brazil  is  the  centre  of  attraction,  which  country  has  for 
several  years  been  making  the  utmost  exertions  to 
encourage  immigration.  The  inconveniences  which 
are  still  in  the  way  of  emigration  to  Brazil,  particularly 
the  want  of  organization  and  attendance  which  meet 
the  new  arrivers,  it  is  hoped  will  be  overcome  by  the 
Brazilian  or  the  Provincial  Government. 

We  consider  it  hazardous  if  in  view  of  the  present 
political  state  of  matters  in  this  continent,  the  Cana- 
dian Government  should  endeavour  to  propagate 

292 


A  Delicate  Enterprise 

emigration  direct,  by  the  distribution  of  pamphlets, 
etc.,  from  abroad.  It  might,  however,  be  taken  into 
consideration  whether  it  might  not  be  advantageous 
to  endeavour  to  get  permission  to  establish  in  Ger- 
many and  Austria  an  information  bureau.  The  latter 
would,  of  course,  only  be  carried  on  in  accordance  with 
the  legal  proclamation  and  would  have  the  task  of 
awaking  interest  with  influential  parties  for  Canada 
and  further  to  dispel  prejudices  which  may  still  exist 
in  general  against  emigration  to  Canada. 

There  was  another  side  to  the  business.  Canada 
was  dangling  her  bait  in  the  deep  waters  of  Europe : 
a  dangerous  game  for  the  "predominant  partner" 
as  well. 

Lord  Salisbury  to  Mr.  Chamberlain 

FOREIGN  OFFICE.  [August,  1898.] 

I  should  be  the  last  to  discourage  the  efforts  of  the 
Dominion  of  Canada  to  increase  her  population  by 
every  legitimate  means;  but  you  will  understand  the 
necessity  for  proceeding  with  the  utmost  caution  and 
with  reference  to  the  emigration  ordinances  of  the 
several  countries  concerned,  otherwise  it  is  clear  that 
the  cares  and  responsibilities  of  the  Foreign  Office  will 
be  vastly  increased.1 

In  1898  the  German  Minister  for  the  Interior, 
Count  Von  Posadowsky  Welmer,  complained  to 

1  "  About  the  action  of  the  German  Government  in  connection 
with  my  visit — Count  Hatzfeldt  did  mention  it  to  Lord  Salisbury  and 
Mr.  Chamberlain  communicated  the  conversation  to  me.  I  explained 
the  nature  of  my  visit  to  the  Continent  which  had  more  to  do  with 
general  questions  and  with  the  steamship  companies  than  with 
German  emigration  in  particular.  My  explanation  was  regarded  as 
entirely  satisfactory."  (Lord  Strath cona  to  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier.) 

293 


Lord  Strathcona 

Sir  Frank  Lascelles  that  the  Canadian  propaganda 
was  giving  great  offence  to  the  Emperor  and  those 
subjects  who  had  the  interests  of  Germany  at  heart, 
and  that  it  would  be  better  for  the  good  under- 
standing between  the  two  countries  if  means  were 
found  to  check  it.  "Germany  had  need  of  all  her 
present  population,  but  if  it  were  considered  advis- 
able for  any  classes  or  even  groups  to  emigrate,  the 
German  Government  desired  to  exercise  an  influence 
as  to  the  choice  of  countries  of  their  destination." 
The  inference  was  plain  —  Canada  was  non  grata 
to  official  Germany,  however  popular  and  attrac- 
tive she  was  becoming  amongst  the  masses  of  im- 
poverished peasants. 

Said  a  leading  German  newspaper,  the  Ham- 
burger Nachrichten:  — 

The  arrogance  of  the  Canadian,  Lord  Strathcona, 
and  the  utter  disrespect  shown  by  him  for  the  laws 
of  the  Empire  irt  publicly  conducting  his  emigration 
propaganda  on  German  soil  and  in  the  very  teeth  of 
the  authorities,  demand  that  vigorous  representations 
should  be  made  at  once  to  the  British  Government, 
which  is,  we  presume,  still  responsible  for  this  Colony. 
While  apart  from  the  weakening  of  the  Fatherland 
which  the  success  of  such  propaganda  entails,  the 
attempt  to  lure  our  fellow-countrymen  to  this  deso- 
late, sub-arctic  region  is,  upon  humane  grounds  alone, 
to  be  denounced  as  criminal. 

A  glimpse  into  the  practical  working  of  the  prop- 
aganda in  Austria  is  furnished  in  one  of  Lord 
Strathcona's  letters:  — 

294 


Galician  Emigrants 


To  the  Honourable  Clifford  Sifton 

23d  March,  1898. 

All  the  agents  claim  that  they  have  been  active  in 
organizing  the  movement  from  Galicia.  They  say  they 
have  obtained  from  the  people  who  have  already 
emigrated,  and  in  other  ways,  an  immense  number  of 
addresses  in  the  country,  and  that  they  have  been  in 
correspondence  with  these  people  for  months  past, 
sending  them  letters  and  pamphlets.  They  have  also 
agents  working  surreptitiously  for  them. 

Of  course  the  law  will  not  permit  anything  in  the 
direction  of  encouraging  emigration,  and  these  sub- 
agents  are  generally  pedlars,  hawkers,  and  others,  who 
are  moving  about  the  country.  In  that  way  they  dis- 
seminate quietly,  but  effectively,  quantities  of  litera- 
ture. They  have  also  spent  considerable  sums  in  adver- 
tising, such  as  the  law  permits.  Although  it  is  quite 
possible  they  may  exaggerate  their  efforts,  and  their 
expenditure,  there  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  they 
have  been  spending  both  time  and  money  in  the 
endeavour  to  increase  the  business  from  Galicia.  They 
claim  in  many  cases  that  they  have  done  more  work 
than  Professor  Oleskow1  has,  and  the  tendency  seemed 
to  be  to  underestimate  the  position  of  that  gentleman, 
although  one  or  two  of  the  agents  admitted  that  he  had 
some  influence,  and  was  able  to  secure  an  amount  of 
publicity  for  Canada  which  they  could  not  do.  At  the 
same  time,  it  is  only  right  for  me  to  add  that  they  all 
appear  to  have  been  in  communication  with  Professor 
Oleskow,  and  to  have  pecuniary  consideration  in  the 
event  of  his  working  through  their  particular  agencies. 
Of  course  none  of  them  know  of  our  arrangement  with 
1  A  subsidized  agent  for  the  Canadian  Government. 
295 


Lord  Strathcona 

him,  but  in  any  case,  in  order  to  retain  their  business, 
they  would  not  hesitate  to  minimize  his  efforts. 

The  greater  part  of  the  Continental  business  — 
except  Scandinavian — was  controlled  by  the  North- 
German  Lloyd  Company  of  Bremen  and  the  Ham- 
burg-American Company  of  Hamburg.  The  latter 
company  owned  and  controlled  the  Hansa  line  of 
steamers. 

It  stands  to  reason  [wrote  Lord  Strathcona]  that  if 
both  these  great  lines  were  working  in  Canadian  inter- 
ests, we  should  have  very  powerful  friends  at  Berlin. 
As  they  would  be  interested  strongly  in  emigration  to 
Canada,  they  would  take  care  as  far  as  possible  that 
nothing  was  done  adverse  to  their  interests  —  which 
in  this  case  would  be  ourselves. 

In  February,  1898,  Lord  Strathcona  visited 
Bremen  and  Hamburg  to  see  what  could  be  done  in 
those  centres.  He  saw  the  directors  of  the  North- 
German  Lloyd  Company. 

I  discussed  [he  writes]  the  matter  very  fully  with 
them,  and  asked  if  they  would  tell  me,  freely  and 
frankly,  why  it  was  we  had  not  the  benefit  of  their 
cooperation  in  this  matter.  The  reply  was  that  they 
only  ran  their  steamers  to  New  York,  and  that  the 
railway  rates  to  Manitoba  and  the  West  being  higher 
than  from  Quebec  and  Montreal,  they  could  not  com- 
pete, and  consequently  left  the  question  of  emigration 
to  the  North- West  severely  alone.  Not  only  was  this 
the  case,  but  they  told  me  distinctly  that  if  the  people 
came  to  them  or  their  agents  and  wanted  information 
about  the  North- West,  they  did  their  best  to  persuade 

296 


Herr  Albert  Ballin 

them  to  go  elsewhere.  So  that,  as  I  have  pointed  out 
on  many  occasions,  the  influence  of  this  great  company 
is  really  exercised  against  Canadian  interests.  I  asked 
them,  if  it  were  possible  to  equalize  the  rates,  whether 
they  would  then  pursue  a  different  policy.  Their  reply 
was  in  the  affirmative. 

In  1896  a  correspondence  had  taken  place  be- 
tween Herr  Albert  Ballin  and  the  German  Minis- 
ter of  the  Interior,  which  became  so  acrimonious 
that  the  former  did  not  hesitate  to  appeal  to  the 
Kaiser. 

If  [he  wrote]  Your  Majesty  agrees  that  the  efforts  of 
the  Hamburg-American  Company  in  the  direction  of  a 
German  mercantile  marine  are  worthy  of  Imperial 
support,  it  is  intolerable  that  we  should  be  met  at  every 
hand,  in  our  policy  of  securing  profitable  traffic,  by 
petty  official  obstacles  of  which  Your  Majesty,  I  am 
convinced,  has  no  cognizance.  Thousands  of  licensed 
German  and  Polish  emigrants  are  now  forced  to  pro- 
ceed from  Dutch  and  English  ports,  who  otherwise 
would  embark  by  the  steamers  of  this  company. 

In  reply  the  Prime  Minister  stated  that  a  uni- 
form emigration  law  for  the  Empire  was  being  pre- 
pared, making  emigration  increasingly  difficult,  and 
that  the  steamship  companies'  agents  must  restrict 
their  propaganda  exclusively  to  such  districts  as 
the  Government  indicated.  "With  regard  to  the 
transportation  of  German  subjects  to  such  British 
Colonies  as  Canada,  the  Ministry  would  not  en- 
courage it  until  the  completion  of  enquiries  concern- 
ing the  future  of  such  emigrants  in  relation  to  their 
German  citizenship  and  the  future  homogeneity  of 

297 


Lord  Strathcona 

i 

the  Empire.  Meanwhile,  the  company  had  a  great 
field  to  draw  upon  in  Russia  and  Austria  and  every 
facility  would  be  given  to  make  Hamburg  and 
Bremen  the  great  European  entrepots  for  Continen- 
tal emigrants  of  non-German  nationality." 

In  the  annual  report  of  the  Hamburg-American 
Company  it  was  stated  that  "in  order  to  give  an 
impulsion  to  business  the  cultivation  of  emigration 
is  an  absolute  necessity."  Russia  was  designated  as 
the  "most  adaptable  land  for  the  enlistment  of 
emigrants."  Such  emigrants  were  met  at  the  Prus- 
sian frontier  stations  by  the  agents  of  the  steamship 
company  and  transported  direct  to  Hamburg. 

Herr  Ballin,  the  head  of  the  Hamburg-American 
Steamship  Company,  was  a  man  already  of  note 
and  destined  to  be  one  of  the  most  powerful  forces 
in  modern  Germany. 

Lord  Strathcona  to  the  Honourable  Clifford  Sifton 

I  had  a  most  interesting  conversation  with  Herr 
Ballin.  I  asked  him  whether  there  were  any  suggestions 
he  had  to  make  by  which  the  position  of  Canada  on 
the  Continent  could  be  improved.  In  his  reply,  he 
referred  to  the  following  matter. 

Herr  Ballin  strongly  urged  that  we  should  arrange 
for  an  agricultural  delegation  to  be  sent  out  from  Ger- 
many to  Canada.  He  mentioned  that  the  Society  of 
St.  Raphael  (a  Catholic  organization)  has  ramifications 
over  the  whole  of  Europe,  and  that  its  principal  object 
is  the  dissemination  of  reliable  information  among 
emigrants  and  their  welfare  in  the  land  of  their  adop- 
tion. What  he  proposes  is,  that  the  Society  should  be 

298 


Herr  Ballin's  Proposals 

invited  to  send  out  to  Canada  a  commission  of  say 
four  persons,  two  to  be  Catholics  and  two  to  be  Prot- 
estants, who  could  spend  a  couple  of  months  in  the 
different  Provinces  of  Canada,  and  prepare  a  report  for 
the  Society.  He  states  that  this  report  would  receive 
wide  publicity  all  over  Germany,  in  the  newspapers 
which  are  under  the  control  of  the  Society,  and  he 
added  that  it  might  also  be  published  in  pamphlet 
form.  As  regards  the  expenses,  the  Hamburg-Ameri- 
can Company  will  gladly  provide  passages  out  and 
home  for  the  delegates,  and  there  is  no  doubt  also  that 
the  Canadian  Pacific  and  other  railways  would  do  their 
share.  Therefore,  there  is  only  the  question  of  the  liv- 
ing expenses  of  the  delegates,  and  while  they  would  be 
men  whose  opinion  would  carry  weight,  they  would 
not,  he  thought,  be  extravagant  in  the  matter  of 
expenses,  and  probably  about  $1000  or  $1500  would 
cover  everything,  so  far  as  the  Government  is  con- 
cerned. I  told  him  the  proposal  appeared  to  me  a 
good  one,  and  that  I  would  commend  it  to  your  con- 
sideration, although  a  similar  proposal  has  been  rec- 
ommended to  your  predecessors  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  and  I  think  it  is  an  opportunity  of  gaining 
publicity  for  the  Dominion  which  we  ought  not  to  miss. 
Herr  Ballin  some  years  ago  suggested  that  the 
Government  should  have  an  agent  at  Hamburg;  one 
who  might  be  nominally  a  commercial  agent,  but 
would  also  keep  a  watch  on  emigration  matters  so  far 
as  the  Dominion  is  concerned.  Herr  Ballin  recom- 
mends that  a  German  should  be  appointed,  one  who 
is  in  a  good  position  and  well  known  in  official  quarters, 
and  that  before  taking  up  his  duties  he  shoulfl  have 
an  opportunity  of  paying  a  visit  to  different  parts  of 
Canada.  Your  predecessor  did  not  feel  able  to  accept 

299 


Lord  Strathcona 

this  suggestion  and  the  matter  fell  through.  Herr 
Ballin  still  thinks  that  a  Canadian  agent  should  be 
appointed,  but  he  now  favors  Berlin  as  the  location 
instead  of  Hamburg,  for  the  reason  that,  under  the 
new  Emigration  Law,  all  the  administrative  work  in 
connection  with  emigration  will  emanate  from  Berlin, 
instead  of  from  the  different  States  of  the  German 
Empire.  Besides  Berlin  is  a  central  place,  and  the 
different  parts  of  Germany  can  readily  be  reached  from 
it.  Herr  Ballin  thinks  that  the  British  Ambassador 
and  the  German  Departments  should  be  consulted  in 
the  matter.  We  think  that  this  would  lead  to  the 
selection  of  some  officials  on  the  retired  list,  who 
would  have  access  to  all  the  Departments,  and  might 
thus  be  instrumental  in  smoothing  over  difficulties 
affecting  Canada,  make  our  work  in  regard  to  emigra- 
tion easier  than  it  is  at  present,  and  keep  us  informed 
of  what  is  going  on.  Herr  Ballin  considers  that  such 
an  officer  need  not  have  an  office,  and  that  his  expen- 
diture would  be  confined  to  salary  and  travelling  ex- 
penses, which  might  not  exceed  from  £500  to  £600  a 
year. 

Herr  Ballin  also  gave  me  some  information  about 
the  new  German  law  in  regard  to  emigration.  It  is  to 
come  into  force,  as  you  know,  on  the  1st  of  April  next. 
Its  provisions,  on  the  face  of  it,  do  not  appear  to  be 
much  more  stringent  than  those  of  the  old  Act,  but  its 
administration  is  expected  to  be  much  more  severe. 
The  regulations  are  not  yet  issued,  and  both  the 
companies  and  the  agents  appear  to  be  in  a  state  of 
much  uncertainty  as  to  what  their  powers  are  to  be 
in  the  future. 

They  seem  to  think,  however,  that  more  difficulties 
will  be  placed  in  their  hands  than  hitherto.  Herr 

300 


The  Bonus  on  Emigrants 

Ballin  is  a  member  of  the  Commission  for  the  working 
of  the  Act.  While  the  Bill  was  passing  through  Parlia- 
ment, he  stated  that  there  appeared  to  be  a  feeling  in 
favour  of  prohibiting  altogether  emigration  to  Canada. 
He  does  not  think,  however,  that  this  is  likely  to  be 
done,  and  I  am  of  his  opinion,  especially  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  if  such  a  regulation  was  passed,  the  business 
of  the  Hansa  line  of  steamers,  which  is  practically  the 
Hamburg-American  Company,  would  be  done  away 
with.  That  steamship  company  is  one  of  the  powerful 
operations  in  Germany,  and  I  hardly  think  that  any- 
thing so  contrary  to  their  interests  would  easily  be 
carried  out. 

It  would  not  be  wise  in  the  interests  of  Canada,  Herr 
Ballin  thought,  to  reduce  the  bonus,  either  on  Galicians 
or  other  emigrants  to  Canada,  at  that  juncture.  He 
strongly  advised  that  any  reduction  to  be  made  should 
take  effect  from  the  close  of  the  actual  season,  say 
from  the  1st  of  September  or  the  1st  of  October,  and 
was  of  the  opinion  that,  in  order  to  secure  the  con- 
tinued interest  of  the  agents,  it  would  not  be  well  to 
make  too  great  a  reduction. 

I  pointed  out  to  the  agents  that  we  did  not  want 
paupers  or  persons  without  means,  and  that  they  must 
endeavour  to  send  only  persons  who  will  have  some 
money  in  hand  after  their  arrival.  They  claimed  that 
this  had  always  been  their  policy  and  none  would 
accept  the  responsibility  of  having  sent  out  persons  of 
the  poorer  classes.  It  was  clearly  stated  by  me  that 
any  departure  from  this  rule  might  prejudice  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  arrangement,  and  this  matter  should 
be  referred  to  in  any  circular  we  may  send  out  to  the 
agents  as  the  result  of  my  recommendations  in  this 
letter. 

301 


Lord  Strathcona 

While  in  Berlin  I  had  a  general  conversation  with  the 
British  Ambassador  [Sir  Frank  Lascelles]  on  the  sub- 
ject of  emigration;  but  the  matter  is  not  one  in  which 
Her  Majesty's  representatives  abroad  take  much  in- 
terest. This  you  can  readily  understand,  as  it  is  a 
delicate  matter,  and  the  laws  are  so  restrictive.  At  the 
same  time,  however,  Sir  Frank  Lascelles  promised  to 
keep  an  eye  on  the  matter,  and  to  communicate  with 
me  if  anything  came  under  his  notice  prejudicial  to  the 
Dominion  and  its  interests. 

At  Vienna  I  also  had  an  interview  with  the  British 
Ambassador,  Sir  Horace  Rum  bold,  who  did  not  seem 
to  know  much  about  the  work  in  Galicia.  I  discussed 
the  matter  with  him,  with  very  much  the  same  result 
as  happened  at  Berlin. 

In  his  discussion  with  the  steamship  agents  at 
Hamburg  Lord  Strathcona  impressed  upon  them 
that  the  Canadian  Government  was  sensible  of  the 
efforts  they  had  been  making  to  promote  emigra- 
tion to  Canada,  and  that  while  a  reduction  in  the 
rate  of  bonus  then  paid  was  being  considered,  there 
was  no  desire  to  do  anything  which  might  appear 
harsh  or  illiberal. 

In  fact,  I  tentatively  mentioned  that  while  perhaps 
the  Government,  although  I  could  not  speak  with  cer- 
tainty, might  decide  to  reduce  the  commission  in  the 
case  of  Galicians  shortly,  any  general  reduction  on 
emigrants  from  other  countries  would  probably  not 
take  effect  until  the  end  of  the  present  season,  say  the 
1st  October.  The  agents,  however,  while  not  question- 
ing the  right  of  the  Government  to  make  any  change, 
thought  that  it  would  hardly  be  fair  to  do  so  at  the 
present  time,  just  at  the  beginning  of  the  season,  when 

302 


Fewer  German  Emigrants 

the  results  of  their  winter's  work  and  expenditure  be- 
gin to  appear. 

Emigration  from  Germany  had  in  1898  fallen 
from  a  quarter  of  a  million  to  less  than  fifty  thou- 
sand for  the  year.  This  was  attributed  partly  to 
the  reports  from  the  United  States,  and  partly  to 
the  increased  prosperity  of  Germany,  workmen  be- 
ing in  greater  demand,  and  at  higher  wages,  than 
they  had  been. 

We  cannot,  therefore  [he  reported],  in  view  of  the 
restrictions,  and  from  other  causes,  hope  to  get  many 
emigrants  from  Germany  proper  at  present,  but  we 
must  continue  our  bonuses  there,  and  encourage  the 
steamship  agents,  as  much  as  possible,  to  work  for 
Canada.  Now  that  the  British  lines  have  withdrawn 
from  emigration  work  on  the  Continent,  the  business 
is  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  great  Continental  com- 
panies, like  the  North-German  Lloyd  and  the  Ham- 
burg-American Company,  and  we  must  endeavour  to 
arrange  so  as  to  be  in  much  closer  communication  and 
cooperation  with  them  than  we  have  been  in  the  past. 
I  have  dealt  with  this  matter  at  some  length  in  my 
letter  on  the  subject  of  the  equalization  of  rates  from 
Quebec  and  from  New  York  to  the  North-West. 

While  there  may  not  be  much  to  expect  from  Ger- 
many, there  is  likely  to  be  a  considerable  movement 
from  Austria  and  from  Southern  Russia,  and  from  the 
latter  place  particularly  we  shall  have  several  hundreds 
of  people  of  the  Mennonite  class  during  the  coming 
season.  I  heard  of  the  work  Mr.  Klaas  Peters  is  do- 
ing there,  and  trust  that  the  result  will  be  to  increase 
our  immigration. 

In  connection  with  emigration  from  Scandinavia, 

303 


Lord  Strathcona 

we  have,  however,  much  to  gain  from  the  British  New 
York  lines  by  the  equalization  of  the  rates.  In  Norway, 
Sweden,  and  Denmark,  the  White  Star,  Cunard,  and 
American  lines  hold  a  far  better  position  than  the 
Canadian  lines,  and  in  Scandinavia  there  are  few 
agents  who  represent  more  than  one  line,  and  we 
should  certainly  gain  by  a  removal  of  the  present 
hostility  of  the  agents  of  the  New  York  lines,  which  is 
mainly  the  result  of  the  difference  in  the  railway  rates. 
The  effect  of  this  want  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the 
New  York  agents  has  been  the  principal  factor  which 
has  prevented  a  proper  share  of  Scandinavian  emigra- 
tion going  to  Canada,  notwithstanding  our  efforts  to 
awaken  an  interest  in  the  Dominion.  Not  only  have 
they  failed  to  help  us,  but  wherever  they  could  do  so 
they  have  tried  to  influence  people  against  Canada, 
and  this  state  of  things  is  well  within  the  knowledge  of 
your  department. 

The  question  of  a  direct  and  continuous  trans- 
portation was  a  vital  one. 

I  earnestly  trust  you  will  give  it  your  consideration, 
and  see  whether  something  cannot  be  done  to  remove 
what,  in  my  judgment,  is  a  great  obstacle  to  emigra- 
tion from  all  parts  of  the  Continent  to  Canada,  and  it 
affects  our  interests  in  the  United  Kingdom  also,  but 
to  a  more  limited  extent.  What  I  should  like  to  see 
would  be  some  arrangements  between  the  American 
lines  and  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company,  by 
which  passengers  could  travel  from  New  York,  Boston, 
or  Philadelphia  to  the  nearest  point  on  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  and  thence  to  the  West  by  our  own 
transcontinental  line.  It  may  be  that  an  additional 
payment  of  some  kind  might  be  involved,  but  I  venture 

304 


Farm  Labourers  from  Britain 

to  think  that  some  means  might  be  found  of  arranging 
the  matter  as  between  the  Government  and  the  rail- 
way, in  view  of  its  importance. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Ministry,  written  in  June,  1899, 
he  stated :  — 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  foreign  immigration  to  Canada 
is  growing.  According  to  all  accounts  the  Galicians  are 
doing  well,  and  will  eventually  make  excellent  settlers. 
The  Doukhobors  also  create  an  excellent  impression, 
and  their  work  in  Southern  Russia,  under  great  dis- 
advantages, indicates  that  they  possess  the  quali- 
ties which  are  necessary  to  success  in  the  Canadian 
North-West.  We  have  not  had  so  many  Germans  and 
Scandinavians  as  we  would  like.  This  arises  from  the 
fact  that  the  Governments  of  the  countries  in  ques- 
tion are  opposed  to  emigration,  which  makes  it  as 
difficult  as  possible,  apart  from  the  fact  that  the 
people  of  those  countries  are  enjoying  an  era  of  pros- 
perity at  the  present  time.  The  success  of  the  Conti- 
nental settlers  in  the  different  parts  of  Canada  is  sure 
to  have  its  effect. 

So  much  for  the  Continental  emigration.  In  the 
United  Kingdom  his  zeal  was  even  greater. 

The  efforts  of  Sir  Donald  Smith  [wrote  a  leading 
Canadian  journal]  to  enlighten  the  public  on  the  other 
side  as  to  the  class  of  immigrants  desired  in  Canada 
are  bearing  fruit.  Instead  of  stunted,  pale-faced 
creatures,  the  products  of  the  streets  of  large  cities, 
who  never  saw  a  tree  or  cow  in  their  lives,  of  whom 
we  have  had  far  too  many  samples  in  the  past,  most  of 
the  immigrants  this  season,  so  far,  are  splendid  speci- 
mens of  the  farm-labourer  class.  There  is  also  notice- 
able a  considerable  sprinkling  of  the  better  class  of 

305 


Lord  Strathcona 

farmers,  men  with  means  to  invest ;  but  chiefly  there  is 
knowledge  of  the  conditions  which  await  them,  and 
fitness  for  meeting  them.  The  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way Company  has  always  been  labouring  in  this 
direction,  and  it  is  to  the  credit  of  the  societies  in 
England  that  they  have  latterly  made  the  most  rigid 
investigation  into  the  capabilities  and  character  of  the 
intending  emigrants  before  they  have  sanctioned  their 
coming  out.  The  magic-lantern  exhibitions  which  were 
got  up  by  Sir  Donald  Smith,  showing  the  Dominion 
as  an  agricultural  country,  which  needed  chiefly  brawn 
and  muscle  and  the  knowledge  of  crops  and  cattle, 
brought  home  to  the  people  in  a  vivid  and  effectual 
way  the  situation  which  had  to  be  confronted.  There 
was  everything  encouraging  in  this,  particularly  when 
the  pictures  were  supplemented  with  the  exhibition 
of  the  cereals  and  roots  indigenous  to  the  several 
Provinces.  It  is  noticeable  in  the  bodies  of  emigrants 
thus  far  landed  and  distributed  this  season  that  a 
considerable  proportion  were  destined  for  British 
Columbia.  Such  persons  are  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  labouring  class.  They  are  persons  with  small 
means,  who,  having  heard  of  the  wonderful  wealth 
of  this  comparatively  new  Province,  have  pulled  up 
stakes  in  the  hope  of  making  sudden  fortune.  Whether 
such  —  disappointed,  for  the  most  part,  as  must  be 
the  inevitable  experience  —  will  settle  down  to  sober 
pursuits,  of  which  the  reward  will  be  slow,  but  prob- 
ably sure  in  the  end,  remains  to  be  seen.  At  any  rate, 
the  British,  though  they  have  been  slow  to  waken  up, 
are  evidently  not  going  to  let  the  Americans  get  all 
the  precious  metal  out  of  the  mines  which  are  springing 
up,  mushroom-like,  in  all  directions.1 

1  Montreal  Witness,  May  5,  1897. 
306 


Room  for  a  Billion 

On  another  occasion,  addressing  an  audience  at 
the  Imperial  Institute,  Lord  Strathcona  said:  — 

There  are  one  or  two  thoughts  I  wish  to  submit  to 
you  as  likely  to  have  an  important  bearing  on  the  com- 
mercial relations  between  Canada  and  the  Mother 
Country.  As  already  mentioned,  Canada  has  a  popu- 
lation of  about  5,500,000  at  the  present  time.  There  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  that,  without  over-crowding,  there 
is  room  for  50,000,000  to  1,000,000,000.  People  have 
been  going  in  more  rapidly  recently  than  in  some  of 
the  preceding  years.  While  we  welcome  every  one  who 
is  prepared  to  adapt  himself  to  the  country,  it  is  per- 
haps a  matter  of  regret  to  us  that  our  fellow-subjects 
in  Great  Britain  do  not  come  in  larger  numbers.  A 
considerable  area  of  our  free-grant  land  is  being  taken 
up  by  settlers  from  the  different  countries  of  Europe. 
Perhaps  it  is  that  those  at  home  are  more  prosperous 
than  those  who  come  to  us  from  the  Continent.  No 
doubt  that  children  of  the  latter,  in  the  second  and 
third  generations,  will  become  as  good  and  loyal 
British  subjects  as  any  of  us;  but  we  know  that  there 
are  many  people  in  these  isles  who  would  much  benefit 
themselves  and  their  families  by  going  to  Canada,  and 
we  cannot  understand  why  it  is  that  they  do  not  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity.  As  I  have  already 
pointed  out,  this  is  a  matter  of  as  much  importance  to 
you  as  to  us,  for  the  more  people  we  have  the  larger 
will  be  the  market  for  your  products  and  manufactures, 
and  the  increase  in  the  population  also  means  an 
increase  in  the  wealth  and  strength  of  the  British 
Empire. 

This  question  of  emigration  does  not  receive  nearly 
the  attention  its  importance  deserves.  It  means  so 
much  from  whatever  point  of  view  it  is  regarded,  and 

307 


Lord  Strathcona 

it  has  an  important  bearing  on  Imperial  commercial 
relations.1 

He  recommended  the  revival  of  the  Canadian 
"exhibition  cars"  which,  after  a  brief  trial,  had 
been  discontinued.  These  soon  became  a  feature  of 
the  British  countryside. 

Anything  that  tends  to  popularize  Canada,  and  to 
familiarize  the  public  with  the  country  and  its  products 
is  worthy  of  support.  This  particular  system  of  adver- 
tising might  be  continued  and  extended.  If  at  any 
time  it  was  thought  by  the  Government  that  the  vans 
might  with  advantage  visit  particular  localities  it 
could,  of  course,  easily  be  arranged. 

At  the  present  time  [he  reported]  we  are  in  corre- 
spondence with  two  to  three  thousand  schoolmasters. 
Several  thousands  of  our  large  maps  of  Canada  are 
hung  upon  the  walls  of  the  schools.  These  maps  are 
used  in  connection  with  the  lessons.  A  large  number 
of  our  pamphlets  are  also  being  used  as  ordinary 
readers  in  the  schools,  and  as  the  children  take 
the  books  home,  Canada  is  thus  introduced  into 
many  homes  in  which  it  might  not  otherwise  become 
known.  I  find  that  many  schoolmasters  have  a 
practical  as  well  as  theoretical  knowledge  of  Canada, 
and  our  lantern  slides  on  Canadian  scenery  are  much 
asked  for  by  such  persons. 

About  fifteen  hundred  lectures  on  Canada  were 
delivered  during  the  autumn,  winter,  and  spring. 
The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  had  initiated  a  series 
of  animated  photographs  of  Canada,  its  scenery, 
and  its  industries. 

1  Address,  November  30,  1899. 
308 


An  Audacious  Scheme 

s 

In  referring  to  the  limited  field  in  the  United 
Kingdom  from  which  to  draw  emigrants,  Lord 
Strathcona  observed:  — 

We  only  encourage  persons  with  capital,  farmers, 
farm  labourers,  and  domestic  servants.  I  have  ex- 
plained the  difficulties  that  tend  to  prevent  immigra- 
tion of  this  class  on  as  large  a  scale  as  we  would 
like,  and  a  good  deal  of  our  effort  is  now  directed  to 
preventing  undesirable  immigration.  Although  our 
enquiry  is  very  large,  both  personally  and  by  corre- 
spondence, the  greater  portion  of  it  comes  from  people 
who  have  no  means  to  emigrate.  Capitalists  and 
farmers  are  slow  to  emigrate  in  any  case,  and  the 
other  classes  are  doing  better  than  at  any  previous 
time,  and,  except  among  some  of  the  younger  members 
of  the  families,  there  is  not  enough  enterprise  and  that 
disposition  to  look  ahead  which  so  often  leads  to  emi- 
gration. Still,  we  are  getting  good  results  from  our 
work,  and  I  am  very  hopeful  that  our  immigration  will 
continue  to  grow  in  the  future. 

Of  the  innumerable  plans  and  projects,  so  often 
fantastic,  suggested  by  immigration  agents  and 
officials  during  these  early  years  of  his  High  Com- 
missionership,  there  was  one  of  which  I  once  heard 
him  say  that  its  audacity  took  his  breath  away. 
The  originator  postulated  that  Scandinavian  emi- 
gration to  Canada  was  eminently  desirable.  A 
fleet  of  vessels  was  to  be  chartered,  each  equipped 
and  provisioned  for  a  long  voyage,  having  on  board 
a  vigorous  lecturer  (of  the  "revivalist"  pattern) 
and  a  brass  band.  On  a  suitable  date  —  a  Sunday 
—  the  ships  were  each  to  put  into  different  Scan- 

309 


Lord  Strathcona 

dinavian  ports  on  some  pretext  or  other.  The  popu- 
lace was  to  be  summoned,  the  band  was  to  play 
"The  Maple  Leaf  Forever,"  and  other  inspiring 
melodies,  the  lecturer  was  to  harangue  the  crowd 
on  the  attractions  of  the  Canadian  North-West, 
and  finally  to  deliver  an  impassioned  exhortation 
to  the  following  effect:  — 

Men  and  women!  material  salvation  awaits  you. 
Canada,  the  land  of  promise,  opens  its  arms  to  receive 
you!  Your  fellow- Norwegians,  already  there  basking 
in  prosperity  and  happiness,  call  across  the  Atlantic 
to  you!  Delay  is  fatal.  Now  is  the  accepted  time. 
Yonder  good  ship  sails  to-morrow.  Passage  money  is 
not  needed  —  come  forward  and  enroll  your  names  and 
sail  with  us  to  Canada  and  fortune. 

The  ingenious  author  of  this  happy  scheme  — 
whose  methods  were  partly  borrowed  from  the 
Salvation  Army  and  the  recruiting  sergeant — was 
greatly  discomfited  when  Lord  Strathcona  declined 
to  consider  it  seriously. 

"You  are,"  it  was  bitterly  complained,  "throw- 
ing away  the  chance  of  getting  ten  thousand  able- 
bodied  Norwegians  on  the  spot." 

No  mention  was  made  of  the  probable  attitude 
of  the  Norwegian  Government.  "I  have  no  doubt 
he  designed  that  the  Norwegian  Government  should 
follow  the  entire  Norwegian  population  to  Canada, 
too,"  was  Lord  Strathcona's  comment. 

At  a  later  stage,  in  1905-06,  came  the  exploits  of 
the  notorious  North-Atlantic  Trading  Company', 
which  entered  into  a  contract  with  the  Canadian 

310 


North  Atlantic  Trading  Company 

Government  to  supply  emigrants  to  Canada  at  a 
fixed  bonus  per  capita.  The  class  of  emigrants  se- 
cured through  this  channel  showed  distinct  dete- 
rioration, being  recruited  from  amongst  the  least 
desirable  of  European  races.  What  Lord  Strath- 
cona  himself  thought  of  the  new  arrangement  may 
be  gathered  from  a  letter  to  the  Prime  Minister  in 
which  he  reviews  the  work  of  the  preceding  years. 
Previously  he  had  written  to  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 
in  reference  to  a  statement  in  the  Globe  newspaper, 
disclaiming  having  opened  negotiations  with  the 
North- Atlantic  Trading  Company,  and  "stating 
that  its  suggestions  never  commended  themselves 
to  my  better  judgment."  He  had  yielded  and  had 
given  such  assistance  as  he  could,  because  the 
Department  of  the  Interior  strongly  favoured  the 
plan.  In  view  of  the  fears  he  had  entertained,  he 
had  the  matter  submitted  to  counsel  for  an  opinion. 
"I  had  no  connection  at  all,"  wrote  Lord  Strath- 
cona,  "with  the  negotiations,  the  Department  of 
the  Interior  having  placed  itself  in  direct  commu- 
nication with  the  company.  While  personally  op- 
posed, however,  I  desired  to  carry  out  the  policy 
of  the  Department." 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

12th  May,  1906. 

From  the  time  of  my  appointment  as  High  Com- 
missioner I  was,  as  you  are  aware,  very  much  impressed 
with  the  necessity  for  an  active  emigration  propa- 
ganda, both  on  the  Continent  and  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  as  my  frequent  despatches  and  many 


Lord  Strathcona 

recommendations  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  will 
show. 

In  the  interests  of  the  work,  I  visited  Hamburg, 
Bremen,  Berlin,  Vienna,  and  Paris.  It  was  very  evident 
to  me,  at  that  time,  as  the  result  of  my  enquiries,  that 
our  preparations,  and  the  cooperation  we  were  receiv- 
ing on  the  Continent,  would  inevitably  result,  in  the 
near  future,  in  a  large  emigration  to  the  North-VVest. 

My  principal  reason  for  not  favouring  a  hard-and- 
fast  contract  with  any  body  of  individuals,  like  the 
North-Atlantic  Trading  Company,  was  the  fear  that 
it  might  land  us  in  difficulties  with  some  of  the  Govern- 
ments concerned.  There  was  also  the  consideration 
that  they  would  obtain  the  advantage,  without  any 
great  expense  or  effort  to  themselves,  of  the  move- 
ment which  was  bound  shortly  to  take  place,  as  the 
result  of  our  continuous  educational  work  with  the 
various  agencies  on  the  Continent.  My  idea  was  that 
the  agents  who  had  been  working  on  our  behalf  should 
themselves  participate  in  the  bonuses;  and  that  we 
should  endeavour  also  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  the 
large  Continental  steamship  companies,  which  it  would 
not  have  been  difficult  to  arrange,  judging  from  my 
interviews  with  the  North-German  Lloyd  directors  and 
Herr  Ballin,  of  the  Hamburg-American  line,  —  gentle- 
men of  great  influence  on  the  Continent,  —  as  reported 
in  my  letters  before  referred  to.  Of  course  it  would 
have  been  possible  to  gradually  lessen  the  bonus  pay- 
ments as  the  emigration  increased  —  the  increase  being 
the  natural  consequence  of  the  work  that  was  being 
done,  and  of  the  successful  settlement  of  the  people 
who  were  going  out  from  year  to  year. 

I  do  not  wish  to  minimize  in  any  way  the  energy 
shown  by  the  Department  of  the  Interior  in  the  pro- 

312 


Unsound  Methods  deprecated 

motion  of  emigration.  They  have  certainly  been  alive 
to  the  importance  of  the  question  within  the  last  seven 
or  eight  years,  and  have  not  hesitated  to  incur  in- 
creased expenditure  on  the  work,  which  I  may  say  was 
recommended  for  many  years  before  it  was  adopted. 
They  are,  therefore,  entitled  to  credit  for  the  increase 
in  the  emigration  that  has  taken  place;  but  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  continuous  and  effective 
work  which  had  been  going  on  for  some  years,  in 
adverse  circumstances,  both  here  and  on  the  Conti- 
nent, had  prepared  the  way  for  the  larger  movement 
that  set  in  when  the  proper  time  arrived. 

Briefly,  therefore,  I  will  conclude  by  saying  that  I 
am  and  always  have  been  in  favour  of  a  vigorous  emi- 
gration policy  on  the  Continent,  in  the  United  King- 
dom, and  in  the  United  States.  At  the  same  time, 
however,  I  did  not  view  the  arrangement  with  the 
North-Atlantic  Trading  Company  with  any  personal 
favour  for  the  reasons  stated  above ;  and  I  am  inclined 
to  the  opinion  that  the  emigration  which  has  taken 
place  would  have  been  at  least  as  large  in  ordinary 
circumstances,  under  the  arrangements  in  force  prior 
to  1899. 

I  am  sure  you  will  understand  that,  in  writing  this 
letter,  I  only  wish  to  make  my  own  position  clear,  and 
that  I  have  no  desire  whatever  to  reflect  in  any  way, 
either  upon  the  Department  of  the  Interior  or  its 
officers,  in  connection  with  the  arrangements  made 
between  the  Government  and  the  company.1 

1  "The  Government  agreed  to  pay  the  company  £i  for  each  man, 
woman,  and  child  of  the  agricultural  class  brought  to  Canada  and 
for  each  girl  of  eighteen  years  of  age  or  over  of  the  domestic  service 
class.  It  was  provided  that  in  no  one  year  should  the  Government  be 
called  upon  to  pay  a  bonus  orv  more  than  five  thousand  Poles,  Ga- 
licians,  and  Bukowinians.  The  Government  gave  special  aid  to 

313 


Lord  Strathcona 

All  through  his  eighteen  years  of  office  we  find 
Lord  Strathcona  going  up  and  down  the  land 
preaching  from  the  same  text,  and  posterity  will 
bear  witness  that  he  was  not  heard  in  vain.1 

The  disadvantages  we  suffer  from  at  the  present 
time  are  a  superabundance  of  land  and  a  compara- 
tively small  population.  Both  of  these  are  only  tem- 
porary. When  we  get  the  people  the  territory  can 
accommodate,  and  the  millions  and  millions  of  acres 
of  vacant  land  are  occupied  and  utilized,  Canada  will 
be  a  country  which  my  powers  of  imagination  do  not 
permit  me  to  picture.  Just  fancy  a  territory  nearly  as 
large  as  Europe,  with  a  population  no  greater  than  that 
of  London !  That  is  the  position  just  now. 

Naturally,  the  latter  circumstance  limits  our  capac- 

encourage  the  operations  in  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Finland.  The 
company  carried  on  their  work  actively.  ;In  1906,  however,  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior  claimed  that  the  company  was  devoting  too 
much  attention  to  the  Southern  and  Eastern  countries,  and  too  little 
to  the  Northern  countries.  This,  he  held  was  in  violation  of  the 
agreement,  and  the  Government  gave  notice  terminating  the  con- 
tract. This  is  the  only  case  in  which  the  Government  has  '  farmed 
out,'  so  to  speak,  its  Immigration  propaganda."  (W.  D.  Scott, 
Canada  and  its  Provinces.) 

1  "  In  the  whole  period  from  1897  to  I9I2,  the  total  immigration 
was  over  two  and  a  quarter  millions;  the  British  Isles  sent  961,000, 
the  United  States  784,000,  and  the  rest  of  the  world  594,000.  The 
total  increase  in  population  in  this  period  was  marked;  between 
1891  and  1901  population  grew  from  4,833,239  to  5,371,315,  and  in 
the  following  decade  to  7,204,838,  practically  double  the  population 
of  forty  years  before.  The  number  of  British  immigrants  rose  from 
an  average  of  10,000  in  the  last  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  to 
50,000  in  1904,  and  138,000  in  1912.  At  the  end  of  this  period  Can- 
ada had  become  the  chief  destination  of  emigrants  from  the  United 
Kingdom,  far  surpassing  the  United  States,  though  Australia,  imi- 
tating the  Canadian  policy  of  publicity  and  offering  liberal  reduced 
or  advanced  passages,  was  again  becoming  a  close  rival."  (0.  D. 
Skelton,  Canada  and  its  Provinces.) 

314 


His  Inspiring  Prophecy 

ity  as  a  consuming  population ;  but  at  the  same  time, 
in  conjunction  with  the  area  of  the  country,  it  serves 
to  give  an  indication  of  the  extent  of  the  market  that 
awaits  the  British  manufacturer  if  the  Mother  Coun- 
try will  only  help  us  in  the  endeavour  we  are  mak- 
ing to  attract  population  to  till  our  lands,  and  to  de- 
velop the  great  resources  with  which  Providence  has 
endowed  us. 

They  say  [he  wrote  to  Mr.  Chamberlain  in  June, 
1899]  that  we  are  draining  Great  Britain  of  her  best 
blood  in  order  to  build  up  and  strengthen  the  Colonies. 
But  I  venture  to  express  my  conviction  that  the 
strength  of  the  Colonies  is  Great  Britain's  strength, 
and  that  if  ever  the  need  should  arise,  these  same 
young  men  will  return  with  their  patriotism  increased 
and  invigorated  rather  than  weakened,  to  give  their 
help  to  the  Mother  Country. 

Whether  this  prophecy  be  true  or  false  let  a 
dozen  bloodstained  battlefields  in  France  and  Bel- 
gium make  answer. 

"  From  Sydney  to  Esquimault,  from  the  Lakes  to  Hudson 
Bay; 

Men  who  never  saw  you,  Mother,  those  that  left  you  yes- 
terday; 

From  the  prairies  and  the  backwoods,  be  the  struggle  brief 
or  long, 

We  are  coming,  Mother  England,  two  hundred  thousand 
strong!" 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

" STRATHCONA'S  HORSE" 
1898-1900 

LORD  STRATHCONA'S  primal  effort  as  a  legisla- 
tor in  the  House  of  Lords  awakened  much  interest 
both  in  Britain  and  in  Canada.  In  deference  to 
the  wishes  of  many  leading  colonists  in  London,  the 
High  Commissioner  undertook  to  bring  forward 
the  Bill  for  legalizing  in  the  United  Kingdom 
marriages  in  the  Colonies  with  a  deceased  wife's 
sister. 

It  is  hardly  surprising  to  learn  now,  on  the  au- 
thority of  the  late  Duke  of  Argyll,  that  this  incur- 
sion into  ecclesiastical  law  and  ordinance  did  not 
meet  with  the  approval  of  Queen  Victoria.  Her 
Majesty  is  said  to  have  remarked  bluntly  that  she 
thought  "his  Labrador  lordship  should  be  the  last 
to  meddle  in  these  matters."  The  royal  innuendo 
merely  illustrated  the  persistence  of  the  legend  con- 
cerning Lord  Strathcona's  own  marriage,  whose 
falsity  and  injustice  both  the  Duke  and  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain had  already  endeavoured  to  expose.  Some- 
thing shrewder  was  the  Queen's  further  remark 
that  she  was  sure  Lord  Strathcona  had  not  con- 
sulted Lady  Strathcona  in  his  choice  of  a  subject 
for  debate. 


Colonial  Marriages  Bill 

From  Lord  Strathcona 

7th  April,  1898. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  WILFRID  LAURIER:  — 

As  you  are  no  doubt  aware,  the  question  of  legalizing 
marriages  with  a  deceased  wife's  sister  is  a  matter  that 
is  brought  every  year  before  the  Imperial  Parliament. 
So  far,  while  the  measure  has  on  one  or  two  occasions 
passed  the  House  of  Lords,  it  has  not  become  law. 

Within  the  last  few  years  an  endeavour  has  also 
been  made  to  legalize  in  this  country  marriages  of  this 
kind  which  have  been  contracted  in  the  Colonies  under 
local  legislation;  but  no  Act  dealing  with  this  part  of 
the  question  has  yet  been  passed. 

The  matter  as  regards  the  Colonial  marriages  is  now 
up  again  for  consideration,  and  I  have  been  asked  by 
the  Marriage  Law  Reform  Association  to  introduce  a 
Bill  on  the  subject  into  the  House  of  Lords.  The  matter 
is,  I  believe,  generally  approved  of  in  the  other  Colo- 
nies, but  having  regard  to  my  position  as  High  Com- 
missioner, I  rather  hesitate  to  comply  with  the  request 
that  has  been  made  to  me  without  first  submitting  it 
to  you  and  knowing  your  views.  If  you  see  no  objection 
to  my  doing  so,  I  shall  be  quite  prepared  to  introduce 
such  a  Bill;  but  if  you  think  it  would  be  better  for  me 
not  to  do  so,  I  shall  merely  confine  myself  to  supporting 
such  a  measure  in  the  House  in  a  general  way,  and  by 
voting  in  favour  of  it. 

Kindly  write  me  on  the  subject  at  your  early  con- 
venience, and  believe  me,  etc., 

STRATHCONA. 

It  was  reported  at  the  time  that  Sir  Wilfrid 
Laurier,  dreading  clerical  criticism,  strongly  depre- 
cated the  intention  of  the  High  Commissioner.  How 


Lord  Strathcona 

much  truth  there  was  in  the  report  may  be  gleaned 
from  the  following  cable  message,  despatched  on  the 
day  the  Premier  received  the  foregoing  letter. 

To  Lord  Strathcona 

OTTAWA,  22d  April,  1898. 

Your  letter  received  about  Colonial  Marriages  Bill. 
There  is  no  objection  to  your  presenting  it.  On  the 
contrary,  I  think  it  quite  proper  for  you  to  do  so. 

LAURIER. 

The  presence  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  the 
Duke  of  York,1  both  of  whom  had  taken  the  keen- 
est interest  in  the  question  of  marriage  law  reform, 
gave  special  interest  to  the  sitting  of  the  House  of 
Lords  on  July  8,  when  Lord  Strathcona  moved  the 
second  reading  of  the  Colonial  Marriages  Bill.  The 
object  was  stated  to  be  "to  make  valid,  in  the 
United  Kingdom,  marriages  legally  contracted  with 
a  deceased  wife's  sister  by  domiciled  residents  in 
the  British  Colonies,  and  in  dependencies,  under 
legal  enactments  sanctioned  by  the  Crown." 

The  case  which  Lord  Strathcona  presented  to  the 
House  of  Lords  seemed  an  almost  overwhelming 
one.  The  bill,  it  may  be  said  in  passing,  was  con- 
fined to  the  legalization  of  marriages  with  the  de- 
ceased wife's  sister.  Marriages  with  a  brother's 
widow  or  wife's  niece  were  left  untouched,  and  the 
Bill  concerned  itself  alone  with  that  of  the  de- 
bated question  —  marriage  with  the  deceased  wife's 
sister  —  upon  which  both  Houses  of  the  Imperial 
1  King  George  V. 
318 


First  Speech  as  Peer 

Parliament  had  expressed  favourable  verdicts.  In 
the  House  of  Lords  in  1896  the  majority  in  favour 
of  the  Bill  was  38,  and  the  opposition  might  now  be 
said  to  be  confined  to  the  extreme  ritualistic  clergy, 
though  it  was  clearly  an  anomaly  and  an  injustice 
that  even  in  marriages  made  valid  in  Colonies 
whose  legislation  had  been  revised  and  sanctioned 
by  the  law  officers  of  the  Crown  in  Britain,  a  Colo- 
nial married  lady  should,  on  landing  at  Liverpool, 
become  a  mistress,  and  be  under  the  ban  of  society. 
Here  it  may  be  noticed  that  by  inadvertence  the 
Bill  was  framed  in  broader  terms  than  was  intended. 
As  drawn,  marriages  solemnized  between  persons 
temporarily  visiting  a  Colony  would  come  within 
the  provisions  of  the  bill.  As  the  remedy  provided 
by  the  Bill  was  sought  only  on  behalf  of  domiciled 
Colonists,  Lord  Strathcona  consented  to  the  inser- 
tion of  words  which  would  limit  the  operation  of  the 
Bill  to  marriages  effected  by  such  persons. 

He  had  very  great  diffidence  [he  began],  in  ad- 
dressing their  Lordships. 

This  is  the  first  occasion  on  which  I  have  had  the 
honour  and  privilege  of  being  present  as  a  member  of 
your  Lordship's  House.  I  am  confident,  however,  that 
your  Lordships  will  extend  to  me  that  indulgence  which 
is  always  given  to  a  new  member. 

The  Bill  which  I  have  to  introduce  has  for  its  object 
the  legalizing  in  the  United  Kingdom  of  marriages  law- 
fully contracted  between  a  man  and  his  deceased  wife's 
sister  in  any  of  the  British  Colonies.  It  is  intended  to 
deal  only  with  the  marriages  of  legally  domiciled  resi- 
dents, and,  in  order  to  remove  any  doubts  there  might 


Lord  Strathcona 

be  on  that  point,  amendments  would  be  moved  in 
Committee,  if  the  Bill  is  read  a  second  time,  to  make 
that  absolutely  clear.  The  Bill  is  also  provided  with 
other  safeguards  to  prevent  its  provisions  from  being 
abused.  Marriages  with  a  deceased  wife's  sister  have 
been  legalized  in  the  Colonies  with  the  active  consent 
of  the  Crown  and  with  the  tacit  approval  of  the  Gov- 
ernment and  of  the  Imperial  Parliament,  but,  in  spite 
of  that  fact,  the  children  of  such  legal  Colonial  mar- 
riages were  regarded  in  the  United  Kingdom  as  illegiti- 
mate, and  could  not  succeed  to  real  property  in  this 
country.  It  is  believed,  too,  that  they  might  be  liable 
to  other  disabilities,  and  it  was  to  remove  this  stain 
from  the  children  who  had  been  born  in  wedlock  ren- 
dered lawful  by  laws  passed  by  the  Colonial  Legislature 
and  approved  by  the  responsible  advisers  of  the  Crown 
that  the  Bill  had  been  introduced. 

Marriage  with  a  deceased  wife's  sister  is  not  legal  in 
the  United  Kingdom,  and  the  question  does  not,  there- 
fore, arise  in  the  same  way;  but  such  marriages  are 
legal  in  the  Colonies.  Why  should  the  children  of  such 
marriages,  when  they  come  home  to  the  Mother  Coun- 
try, bear  the  mark  of  illegitimacy?  Such  a  Bill  as  this, 
if  it  were  passed,  would  be  an  act  of  justice  to  many 
and  would  be  an  injustice  to  no  one. 

Representing  the  Colonies,  and  speaking  with  a 
knowledge  of  what  I  say,  every  man  in  the  Colonies 
looks  upon  himself  as  an  Englishman  just  as  much  as  if 
he  had  been  born  in  the  United  Kingdom ;  he  glories  in 
the  name  of  Englishman,  and  he  has  all  the  aspirations 
of  one  and  the  same  loyalty  and  devotion  to  our  Empire. 
As  the  Colonists  feel  that  they  are  equally  members  of 
the  great  Empire  to  which  all  Englishmen  belong,  I 
hope  your  Lordships  will  send  a  message  of  good-will  to 

320 


Marriages  Bill  shelved 

those  for  whom  I  plead,  a  message  which  will  be  appre- 
ciated throughout  the  Colonies;  and  show  them  that 
your  Lordships  have  as  much  consideration  for  those 
in  the  Colonies,  for  whom  I  speak,  as  for  those  in  the 
Mother  Country;  that  you  desire  to  do  justice  to  all. 

Notwithstanding  that  the  bill  was  carried  by  a 
majority  of  129  to  46,  the  Government  refused  to 
take  it  up  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Some  years 
were  destined  to  elapse  before  the  measure  became 
law. 

Meanwhile,  many  other  affairs  claimed  the  High 
Commissioner's  attention.  In  the  summer  of  1898 
a  Joint  Conference  between  Britain  and  America 
to  decide  outstanding  disputes  was  decided  upon 
and  there  was  much  difficulty  about  the  choice  of 
delegates.  But  before  the  matter  was  settled  Can- 
ada's thirty-first  birthday  came  and  went.  Rarely, 
if  ever,  had  there  been  such  a  gathering  of  in- 
fluential Canadians  and  friends  of  the  Dominion 
as  assembled  to  dinner  at  the  Imperial  Institute. 
Amongst  those  who  supported  Lord  Strathcona  was 
the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  British  Postmaster-General, 
whose  valuable  assistance  as  the  head  of  the  Eng- 
lish Roman  Catholics  had  been  invoked  in  the 
Manitoba  Schools  settlement. 

In  proposing  the  toast  of  the  evening,  Lord 
Strathcona  said :  — 

I  think  all  Canadians  will  agree  with  me  that  we 
have  one  day  we  can  call  our  own,  one  on  which  we  can 
gather  together  and  show  that  while  true  Britons  and 
devoted  subjects  of  Her  Majesty,  we  are  none  the  less 
citizens  of  the  Dominion.  We  are  not  a  foreign  nation, 

321 


Lord  Strathcona 

—  but  a  kindred  nation  with  Britain, — members  of 
the  great  Empire,  as  are  those  within  the  United 
Kingdom.  The  advance  of  Canada  within  the  last 
sixty  years,  and  especially  since  Confederation,  has 
been  great,  both  in  the  development  and  extent  of  her 
resources  and  in  her  financial  position.  We  have 
cause  to  be  proud  of  it. 

Lord  Strathcona  congratulated  the  Australian 
Colonies  on  being  within  measurable  distance  of 
federal  union,  knowing  what  great  benefits  federa- 
tion had  brought  to  Canada.  He  had  similar  hopes 
for  South  Africa,  and  trusted  that  the  West  Indies 
themselves  might  in  future  become  a  British  com- 
monwealth. In  the  past  few  years  Canada  had 
been  able  to  secure  the  denunciation  of  commercial 
treaties  which  stood  in  the  way  of  a  closer  alliance 
between  the  Colonies.  He  could  not  see  why  any 
foreign  nation  should  take  exception  to  this  piece  of 
domestic  legislation.  One  foreign  country  proposed 
to  exempt  Canada  on  this  account  from  most- 
favoured-nation  treatment.  Canada,  with  such 
support  as  she  could  always  reckon  on,  would  be 
able  to  protect  her  own  interests,  for  she  would 
always  act  with  moderation. 

It  is  also  very  pleasant  to  find  better  relations  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Canada.  We  pray  very 
fervently,  all  of  us,  that  the  newly  appointed  High 
Commission  will  give  full  satisfaction  to  each  and  all 
of  us  in  the  difficulties  they  are  going  to  deal  with. 
You  will  all  be  glad  to  find  that  we  have  amongst  us 
this  evening  Lord  Herschell.  With  such  representa- 
tives as  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier,  Mr.  Charlton,  and  Lord 

322 


American  Friendship 

Herschell,  we  may  have  confidence  that  the  proper 
interests  of  Great  Britain  and  of  Canada  will  be  well 
looked  after. 

We  do  not  wish  to  stand  at  arm's  length  with  our 
neighbours.  We  desire  to  be  on  the  most  friendly 
terms  possible  with  them,  and  it  would  appear  that 
that  desire  is  heartily  reciprocated.  Still,  we  wish  to 
continue  as  one  people  with  the  Mother  Country,  and 
do  our  part  in  that  great  Empire  of  which  we  are  all 
so  proud. 

On  this  occasion  the  Chairman's  health  was  pro- 
posed by  the  veteran  Canadian  statesman,  Sir 
Charles  Tupper. 

After  Confederation  took  place  [said  Sir  Charles]  a 
great  impassable  desert  separated  Ottawa  from  the 
great  North- West,  and  it  was  impossible  to  reach  one 
from  the  other  except  by  traversing  foreign  soil.  All 
this  had  now  been  changed,  and  that  it  had  been  so, 
was  largely  due  to  the  great  financial  qualities  of  Lord 
Strathcona.  To  his  energy,  ability,  and  indomitable 
perseverance  the  bringing  together  of  the  isolated 
Provinces  was  in  no  small  measure  due.  Montreal  to- 
day possessed  admirably  equipped  hospitals,  due  to 
the  princely  generosity  of  Lord  Strathcona  and  Lord 
Mount  Stephen.  No  man  in  Canada  possessed  to-day 
the  confidence  of  all  classes  to  such  an  extent. 

On  the  25th,  Mr.  Chamberlain  wrote  Lord 
Strathcona  that  the  Queen  had  approved  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  Earl  of  Minto  to  succeed  Lord 
Aberdeen. 

I  feel  sure  that  Lord  Minto  will  receive  from  you  that 
loyal  support  always  given  to  the  representative  of  the 

323 


Lord  Strathcona 

Queen,  and  I  am  convinced  that  the  new  Governor- 
General  will  carry  to  Canada  the  most  anxious  desire 
to  do  everything  in  his  power  for  the  welfare  of  the 
Dominion. 

On  cabling  the  news  to  the  Premier  Lord  Strath- 
cona received  the  following  reply:  — 

From  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

26th  July,  1898. 

Minto's  appointment  will  be  well  received,  especially 
as  he  has  already  served  in  this  country.  Personally  it 
will  be  a  pleasure  for  me  to  give  him  every  assistance. 
You  can  assure  Mr.  Chamberlain  of  this. 

At  the  launching  at  Wallsend  of  the  Mount 
Royal,  so  named  out  of  compliment  to  Lady  Strath- 
cona who  performed  the  ceremony,  the  High  Com- 
missioner said :  — 

I  do  not  care  to  speak  any  longer  of  Canada,  and  the 
other  countries  constituting  the  Empire,  as  Colonies. 
They  are  constituents  of  an  Empire  one  and  indivisible. 
They  are  English  quite  as  much  as  is  Great  Britain, 
and  to  remain  so  to  all  time  is  the  desire  of  Canada 
and  all  the  other  possessions  of  the  Empire.  Though 
we  have  in  Canada  a  portion  of  the  population  who 
had  not  originally  come  from  Great  Britain,  I  can  say 
without  hesitation  that  they  are  just  as  good  and  loyal 
British  subjects  as  ourselves.  They  are  Englishmen 
only  with  one  difference,  —  that  they  speak  French 
as  well  as  English.  That  circumstance  is  a  source  of 
safety  in  Canada,  and  one  which  contributes  to  the 
safety  of  the  whole  Empire. 

3*4 


Bristol  Celebrations 

A  long-deferred  memorial  to  the  sixteenth-cen- 
tury discoverers,  John  and  Sebastian  Cabot,  was 
unveiled  at  Bristol  in  September,  in  which  the 
Marquess  of  Dufferin  took  a  prominent  part. 

The  people  of  Canada  [Lord  Strathcona  assured  his 
hearers]  are  entirely  with  those  of  Bristol  in  doing 
honour  to  that  great  navigator  who  was  the  first  to 
place  foot  on  Newfoundland  and  on  the  northern  por- 
tion of  the  Western  Hemisphere,  and  thereby  made  it 
possible  that  there  should  be  colonization  of  America 
by  Englishmen. 

How  much  has  since  happened,  how  much  has  been 
done  even  within  the  period  of  the  reign  of  Her  Most 
Gracious  Majesty,  by  the  citizens  of  Bristol  in  bringing 
nearer  our  two  countries.  It  is  just  sixty  years  ago  that 
the  citizens  of  Bristol  sent  out  the  first  steamer  to  cross 
the  Atlantic,  the  Great  Western.  That  marks  an  era  in 
steamboat  navigation,  which  has  grown  since  then, 
until  we  have  in  the  present  day  those  floating  palaces 
in  which  discomfort  has  all  but  disappeared  from  the 
sea.  We  must  not  forget  that  the  people  of  Bristol  were 
the  pioneers  of  this  great  work  —  that  at  a  time  when 
scientific  men,  and  among  them  that  man  who  was  one 
of  the  foremost  in  science  at  that  time,  Dr.  Lardner, 
said  that  it  was  an  impossibility  for  a  steamer  to  cross 
the  Atlantic,  to  carry  coal  and  to  carry  passengers  at 
the  same  time;  you  showed  the  road  and  since  then  it 
has  been  well  followed. 

The  message  from  the  citizens  of  Halifax  shows  what 
is  thought  of  Lord  Dufferin  throughout  the  whole 
Dominion  of  Canada.  His  great  services  there  were 
appreciated,  I  can  assure  you;  in  Lord  and  Lady  Duf- 
ferin we  had  in  Canada  those  who  were  respected  as 
highly  as  any  Governor-General  and  his  consort  could 

325 


Lord  Strathcona 

be.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  join  in  the  vote  of 
thanks  to  Lord  Dufferin  for  his  services  in  laying  the 
foundation  stone  of  this  fine  tower,  placed  in  a  position 
commanding  the  whole  of  Bristol,  and  of  which  the 
people  of  Bristol  may  well  be  proud. 

In  November,  1898,  Lord  Strathcona  himself 
again  crossed  the  Atlantic  for  Ottawa,  to  discuss 
with  the  Government  the  questions  of  immigra- 
tion, the  Pacific  cable,  the  fast  steamship  service, 
and  other  kindred  matters.  While  there  on  one 
occasion  he  said :  — 

The  Hispano-American  war  has  given  occasion  for 
an  expression  of  the  feeling  existing  for  America  in 
British  hearts,  and  the  sympathy  and  friendship  which 
the  British  Government  and  people  have  shown  toward 
the  American  cause  may  be  taken  as  a  strong  under- 
lying and  lasting  feeling  of  the  people  of  the  same 
blood. 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

MONTREAL,  loth  December,  1898. 

Immediately  on  my  return  to  Montreal,  I  called  on 
Sir  William  Van  Home  and  explained  to  him  your 
views  with  regard  to  the  bonding  privilege  question. 

He  appears  to  be  entirely  opposed  to  an  Interna- 
tional Commission  for  dealing  with  the  matter.  Mr. 
Shaughnessy  is  equally  opposed  to  such  a  commission, 
although  to  me  it  appeared,  when  the  proposition  was 
discussed  when  I  met  yourself  and  your  colleagues  at 
the  Joint  Commission  at  Washington,  that  it  was  one 
which  might  be  expected  to  work  equitably  and  fairly 
for  both  parties.  In  this  I  must,  however,  defer  to  the 

326 


Canadian  Securities 

opinion  of  those  who,  like  the  President  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company, 
have  had  great  experience  in  the  working  of  arbitra- 
tion boards,  and  they  are  evidently  concerned  at  the 
prospect  of  having  any  such  International  Court. 

The  Anglo-American  Commission  sat  both  at 
Quebec  and  Washington;  but  it  soon  became  clear 
that  no  decision  could  be  arrived  at  just  then  con- 
cerning the  chief  matters  in  dispute. 

Lord  Strathcona  to  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

April  1 5th,  1899. 

When  discussing  with  Mr.  Chamberlain,  some  little 
time  back,  the  question  of  placing  Canadian  Govern- 
ment securities  on  the  same  footing  as  those  of  the 
United  Kingdom  in  respect  of  trust  investments,  he 
suggested  the  possibility  of  an  arrangement  being  come 
to  between  the  two  Governments  by  which,  on  the  con- 
version of  the  Canadian  loans,  they  might  in  a  sense  be 
"taken  over"  by  England,  that  is,  that  the  new  issue 
should  be  guaranteed  by  the  Imperial  Government. 
With  this  guarantee  the  money  could,  of  course,  be 
obtained  on  much  more  favourable  terms,  the  saving 
on  interest  being  not  less  than  from  one  half  to  three 
quarters  per  cent.  His  idea  was  that  in  consideration 
of  this,  Canada  would  devote  a  portion  of  the  saving 
to  Imperial  purposes.  He  was  very  particular  in  im- 
pressing upon  me  that  this  was  partly  a  personal  idea 
of  his  own,  wholly  deprived  of  anything  of  an  official 
character,  and  it  was  in  that  sense  I  told  him  I  would 
bring  the  matter  confidentially  to  your  notice. 

Of  course,  it  is  one  of  those  things  which,  if  thought 

327 


Lord  Strathcona 

worthy  of  further  notice  at  all,  would  demand  the 
gravest  consideration  both  in  Canada  and  here,  and 
perhaps  you  will  kindly  at  your  convenience  let  me 
know  if  you  think  it  worth  while  discussing  the  matter 
further. 

You  appear  to  be  having  long  speeches  from  Sir 
Charles  Tupper  and  his  friends  in  the  House,  but  let 
us  hope  that  this  is  not  an  indication  of  a  long  session. 

Lord  Strathcona's  sojourn  in  Montreal  was  ren- 
dered memorable  not  only  by  his  further  munifi- 
cence to  McGill  University,  but  also  by  a  brilliant 
social  function  in  honour  of  the  new  Governor- 
General. 

It  had  five  years  previously  fallen  to  Lord  Strath- 
cona to  afford  Lord  and  Lady  Aberdeen  their  first 
formal  introduction  to  Montreal  society.  By  a  happy 
coincidence  the  same  duty  was  again  discharged  in 
the  case  of  Lord  and  Lady  Minto.  The  dinner  and 
reception  given  by  the  High  Commissioner  and 
Lady  Strathcona  at  their  Montreal  mansion  in 
honour  of  the  new  Governor-General  was  a  most 
successful  and  brilliant  function. 

We  have  entered  upon  a  course  of  prosperity  which, 
I  believe,  will  bear  us  on  for  many  years,  and  it  is  well 
that  we  should  know  and  feel  that  this  is  not  dependent 
on  one  political  party  or  another,  but  that  it  results  in 
great  measure  from  the  good  government  we  receive 
from  any  party  which  may  be  in  power.  As  to  the 
needs  of  the  hour:  We  have  been  looking  for  some  time 
for  a  faster  Atlantic  service.  We  hoped  to  have  had  it 
by  this  time.  But  our  efforts  have  not  been  in  vain. 
Preparations  have  been  made  for  it,  and  I  myself  have 

328 


Kruger  and  Kiel 


every  confidence  that  it  is  a  comparatively  short  time 
when  we  shall  have  much  better  communication  across 
the  Atlantic.  As  to  the  West  Indies,  it  is  gratifying 
that  greater  facilities  had  been  provided  for  direct 
intercourse  with  the  Dominion  not  only  by  steamers, 
but  also  by  cable ;  while  as  to  the  Pacific  Cable,  I  hope 
it  will  not  be  long  before  this  is  an  accomplished  fact. 
We  are  looking,  too,  with  great  expectations  and  every 
hope  that  we  shall  be  able  in  a  very  short  time  to  con- 
gratulate our  fellow-colonists  in  the  South  on  becoming 
a  Dominion,  and  that  they  will,  as  a  nation,  attain  to 
even  greater  prosperity. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1 899  there  began  to  loom 
up  in  the  distance  the  shadow  of  serious  trouble  in 
South  Africa.  From  the  first,  Lord  Strathcona  took 
the  deepest  interest  in  the  question.  Once  he  said 
to  Mr.  Chamberlain:  — 

There  is  a  curious  resemblance  in  many  respects  to 
the  events  of  1869.  Kruger,  like  Riel,  has  a  complete 
misunderstanding  of  his  position.  I  believe  that  if  there 
was  any  one  in  South  Africa  that  both  parties  and 
races  could  trust,  war  might  be  averted. 

While  the  negotiations  between  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain, Lord  Milner,  and  President  Kruger  were  in 
progress  and  the  question,  raised  by  the  Uitlanders, 
of  the  Parliamentary  representation  of  rapidly  in- 
creasing populations  was  being  agitated,  in  Canada 
the  Laurier  Ministry  brought  in  a  fresh  Redistri- 
bution Bill.  Promptly  the  accusation  of  "gerry- 
mandering" was  launched  against  them.  As  the 
charge  obtained  much  currency  in  the  English  press, 
Lord  Strathcona  sent  for  Miss  Flora  Shaw  (Lady 

329 


Lord  Strathcona 

Lugard),  then  Colonial  editor  of  the  Times,  in 
order  to  explain  to  her  the  character  of  and  the 
necessity  for  the  Act.  Canada,  like  the  Transvaal, 
was  face  to  face  with  a  difficulty  common  to  all  new 
countries,  namely,  that  important  interests  might 
at  any  moment  spring  up  in  desert  places. 

This  difficulty  was  one  with  which  the  Canadian 
statesmen  who  carried  through  the  work  of  federa- 
tion foresaw  that  Canada  as  a  Dominion  would 
have  to  deal.  Consequently,  provision  was,  under 
their  inspiration,  made  for  meeting  it  in  the  Con- 
stitution accorded  by  the  British  North  American 
Act  to  the  federated  Provinces.  But  in  acting  upon 
the  provision,  each  successive  Canadian  Govern- 
ment of  necessity  exposes  itself  to  the  accusation 
of  "gerrymandering"  the  constituencies  in  order 
to  acquire  for  its  own  supporters  the  largest  pos- 
sible amount  of  Parliamentary  representation.  The 
accusation  was  therefore  very  freely  made  against 
the  Government  of  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  and  his  col- 
leagues in  reference  to  their  new  Redistribution 
Bill  which  was  now  before  the  Dominion  parlia- 
ment. On  behalf  of  the  Government  Lord  Strath- 
cona indignantly  rebutted  the  accusation.  All  their 
principal  platform  utterances,  since  the  passing  of 
the  Conservative  Redistribution  Acts  of  1882  and 
1892,  demonstrated  that  the  Bill  they  had  intro- 
duced was  simply  a  measure  of  retributive  justice 
to  constituencies  shamelessly  "gerrymandered"  by 
previous  Governments. 

There  is  nothing  upon  which  it  is  more  difficult  to 
form  a  just  opinion  at  a  distance  than  the  operative 

330 


A  Canadian  Resolution 

effect  of  a  Parliamentary  Redistribution  Bill.  The 
claim  of  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier's  Government,  that  in 
introducing  the  present  measure  they  do  but  redeem 
their  reiterated  election  pledges,  is  one  which  can, 
however,  be  verified  by  a  reference  to  the  party  pro- 
gramme which  has  been  before  the  country  since  the 
meeting  of  the  Liberal  Convention  at  Ottawa  in  1893; 
and  the  unconscious  admission  of  the  nature  of  the 
Conservative  Redistribution  Acts  which  was  made  by 
Sir  Charles  Tupper,  when,  in  the  course  of  a  speech 
attacking  the  present  measure,  he  argued  that  if  the 
Bill  of  1882  had  not  been  passed  in  the  form  in  which  it 
was  passed,  Canada  would  have  lost  some  of  the  most 
valuable  developments  of  Conservative  policy  by 
which  the  country  has  benefited  since  that  date,  goes, 
it  must  be  confessed,  some  way  toward  proving  that, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  local  politics,  there  was 
justification  for  the  pledges  of  the  Liberal  leaders  to 
carry  through  a  scheme  of  readjustment  whenever  the 
power  to  do  so  should  be  theirs.1 

A  few  days  earlier  (July  14)  Mr.  Chamberlain 
wrote  to  Lord  Strathcona  that  he  had  just  been  in- 
formed by  Lord  Windsor  that  a  mutual  friend  had 
had  an  interview  with  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  at  Ottawa. 

Sir  Wilfrid  has  authorized  him  to  say  that  he  will 
at  once  introduce  into  the  Dominion  Parliament  a 
resolution  supporting  the  maintenance  of  Imperial 
supremacy  throughout  South  Africa,  provided  I  in- 
timate through  you  that  such  a  resolution  would  be 
welcomed. ! 

If  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  is  correctly  reported,  I  hasten 
to  say  that  such  a  resolution  of  sympathy  and  support 
1  The  Times,  July  19,  1899. 
331 


Lord  Strathcona 

as  he  suggests  Would  be  most  cordially  welcomed  by 
Her  Majesty's  Government. 

The  High  Commissioner  cabled  instantly  to  the 
Premier,  but  for  some  reason  or  other  no  reply  came 
until  the  24th. 

From  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

24th  July,  1899. 

I  have  your  favour  of  the  1 5th  instant,  repeating 
your  telegram  of  the  same  day  about  the  resolution  of 
sympathy  which  we  were  asked  to  move  on  the  Uit- 
landers  question.  Mr.  Allan  had  no  authority  from  me 
to  wire  as  he  did,  though  we  are  considering  at  this 
moment  if  it  would  be  advisable  for  us  to  introduce 
such  a  resolution  in  the  House  of  Commons. 

In  the  interval  Mr.  Chamberlain  had  been  grow- 
ing anxious.  A  stage  in  the  correspondence  with 
President  Kruger  had  been  reached  when  Canada's 
expression  would  be  of  signal  value.  An  interview 
with  Lord  Strathcona  on  the  26th  of  July  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  letter  next  day,  the  date  of  the  sending 
by  the  Colonial  Secretary  of  an  ultimatum  to 
President  Kruger. 

COLONIAL  OFFICE,  27th  July,  1899. 

DEAR  LORD  STRATHCONA:  — 

Although  I  fully  appreciate  the  difficulties  of  your 
Premier's  position,  I  hope  he  will  not  find  them  insup- 
erable. 

How  greatly  it  would  strengthen  the  hands  of  Her 
Majesty's  Government  at  this  critical  time  if  Canada's 
moral  support  for  our  policy  were  announced,  I  need 

332 


The  South  African  War 

not  urge  to  you.  An  unspoken  declaration  might  go 
far  to  alter  the  situation.  The  opinion  of  a  great  self- 
governing  Dominion,  such  as  yours,  whose  leader  is  not 
of  British  origin,  could  hardly  fail  to  impress  powerfully 
the  gentlemen  of  the  Volksraad  and  persuade  them  to 
adopt  a  more  reasonable  view  of  their  position  and 
ours.  It  might  have  the  further  useful  effect  of  check- 
ing some  of  that  sympathy  and  encouragement  which 
the  Boers  are  receiving  from  many  in  the  United 
States,  who  are,  I  gather,  wretchedly  informed  as  to 
the  merits  of  the  present  dispute. 

I  shall  hope  to  hear  the  moment  intelligence  reaches 
you.  Believe  me, 

Yours  most  sincerely, 

J.  CHAMBERLAIN. 

Intelligence  of  a  favourable  character  reached 
the  High  Commissioner  in  a  few  days,  which  he 
immediately  conveyed  to  Mr.  Chamberlain. 

From  Mr.  Chamberlain 

I  did  not  receive  your  private  letter  of  the  3Oth  July 
till  my  return  from  the  House  last  night. 

I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  action  in 
the  matter,  and  see  the  result  in  the  papers  this  morn- 
ing with  the  greatest  possible  satisfaction.  I  consider 
that  the  action  of  the  Dominion  marks  a  distinct  stage 
in  the  history  of  Imperial  relations. 

With  deep  anxiety  did  Lord  Strathcona  watch 
the  events  —  by  no  means  favourable  for  British 
arms  —  which  marked  the  beginning  of  the  war  in 
South  Africa.  Much  as  he  desired  to  see  Canada's 

333 


Lord  Strathcona 

active  participation  in  the  struggle,  he  felt  that  it 
would  be  in  the  highest  degree  improper  for  him  to 
attempt,  by  word  or  act,  to  force  the  Canadian 
Prime  Minister's  hand.  He  realized  that  this  war 
was  different  in  strategic  character  from  most  of 
those  which  had  gone  before  —  that  the  Boers  re- 
sembled Red  Indians  in  their  slyness,  ruthlessness, 
and  fondness  for  ambuscade,  and  consequently 
that  fighters  of  the  type  of  the  Mounted  Police  of 
the  Canadian  Prairies  would  be  more  of  a  match 
for  them  than  the  sedulously  drilled  infantrymen  of 
the  English  pattern.  The  idea  grew  upon  him  and 
was  fostered  by  the  letters  and  public  utterances 
of  several  Canadian  friends,  who  had  great  faith 
in  the  peculiar  merit  of  Colonial  troops.  Chief 
amongst  these  was  Colonel  Samuel  Hughes,  M.P.,1 
an  Ontarian  militia  officer,  who  took  his  military 
duties  seriously  and  who  strove  on  all  occasions  to 
imbue  his  comrades-in-arms  and  his  colleagues  in 
the  House  of  Commons  with  his  own  ardent  Im- 
perialism. 

Meanwhile,  early  in  November,  Sir  Edward 
Grey's  retirement  from  the  contest  for  the  Lord 
Rectorship  of  Aberdeen  left  the  way  free  for  Lord 
Strathcona's  unanimous  election  to  the  office. 
After  the  nomination  the  students  had  a  proces- 
sion, which  came  into  contact  with  the  police,  who 
drew  their  batons.  To  his  deep  concern  several 
students  were  injured  and  some  arrests  were  made. 

1  Lord  Strathcona  used  to  enjoy  hugely  Colonel  Hughes's  alleged 
reason  for  dropping  the  "uel"  from  his  baptismal  name:  "I  got  so 
tired  of  explaining  that  I  was  an  Orangeman  and  not  a  'U.E.L.' 
(United  Empire  Loyalist)  by  descent  that  I  decided  to  'cut  it  out.' " 

334 


Lord  Rector  of  Aberdeen 

In  the  course  of  a  leading  article,  the  Daily  News 
observed :  — 

The  new  Lord  Rector  of  Aberdeen  may  fairly  be 
called  the  Grand  Old  Man  of  the  Colonies.  Lord 
Strathcona  is  seventy-nine,  but  he  is  still  High  Com- 
missioner for  Canada,  Governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  President  of  the  Bank  of  Montreal,  and  a 
Director  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway.  No  man  is 
better  able  to  trace  the  history  of  the  Dominion,  now 
more  than  thirty  years  old,  and  to  explain  the  rather 
complicated  system  of  Federalism  which  has  been 
carried  out  there  with  conspicuous  success.  He  may 
remember  the  beautiful  Horatian  motto  which  Lord 
Derby,  Prime  Minister  in  1867,  proposed  for  the  new 
State.  It  was  not  adopted,  but  it  was  as  appropriate 
as  it  was  classical.  "  Juventas  et  patrius  vigor  "  it  ran 
(Youth  and  inherited  force). 

Lord  Strathcona  was  a  very  young  man  when  Lord 
Durham  went  out  to  redress  grievances  and  restore 
order.  The  loyalty  of  the  French-Canadians  and  the 
readiness  of  many  among  them  to  serve  in  South 
Africa  are  striking  and  impressive  facts  of  which  no- 
body then  dreamed. 

For  by  this  time  the  Canadian  Ministry  had  de- 
cided to  send  a  contingent  of  troops  to  the  theatre 
of  war.  The  High  Commissioner  wrote  to  Sir 
Wilfrid  Laurier :  — 

I  fully  appreciate  the  difficulties  you  had  to  meet 
in  determining  to  send  a  contingent  to  South  Africa. 
Happily,  the  people  here  were  so  favourably  impressed 
with  the  unmistakable  and  enthusiastic  loyalty  of  the 
people  of  the  Dominion  as  a  whole  that  the  strictures 
of  one  or  two  Quebec  newspapers  were  hardly  noticed. 

335 


Lord  Strathcona 

Albeit,  the  momentary  indecision  about  sending 
the  troops  made  him  secretly  indignant.  Even  dur- 
ing his  brief  visit  to  Birmingham  at  the  close  of  the 
black  month  of  November,  he  was  contemplating 
some  plan  by  which  he  could  personally  assist  in 
the  cause  of  his  fellow-countrymen  in  South  Africa. 

Another  political  uneasiness  lay  on  his  mind  in 
reference  to  the  much-vaunted  Preferential  Tariff. 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  he  wrote :  — 

I  share  your  disappointment  that  while  there  has 
been  such  a  substantial  increase  in  Canadian  exports, 
the  imports  under  the  Preferential  Tariff  have,  so 
far,  fallen  short  of  what  might  reasonably  have  been 
expected  from  the  change. 

It  appears  as  if  [he  said  to  Mr.  Chamberlain]  we  had 
almost  been  pluming  ourselves  upon  a  fiscal  sacrifice 
which  has  not  yet  been  made.  This  will  make  our 
sacrifices  of  another  kind  all  the  easier. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  Imperial  Preference,  to  work 
satisfactorily,  could  not  possibly  continue  to  be 
one-sided.  He  told  his  audience  in  Birmingham, 
speaking  on  the  commercial  relations  of  Canada 
with  Great  Britain :  — 

It  is  an  encouraging  sign  of  the  times  that  these 
matters  of  inter- Imperial  trade  are  now  receiving,  from 
the  business  community  of  the  United  Kingdom,  the 
consideration  their  importance  merits.  This,  doubt- 
less, arises  from  the  great  strides  that  have  been  made 
in  the  development  of  the  resources  of  the  outlying 
portions  of  the  Empire  within  comparatively  recent 
years,  and  from  the  fact  that  Canada  and  the  Colonies 
seem  to  offer  the  most  promising  markets  of  the  future 

336 


No  One-sided  Preference 

for  the  products  and  manufactures  of  Great  Britain. 
Whatever  opinion  may  be  held  as  to  the  fiscal  policy 
of  the  Colonies,  it  is  certain  that  their  tariffs  were  im- 
posed chiefly  for  revenue,  and  not  for  the  purpose  of 
restricting  importations  from  Great  Britain,  which  is 
avowedly  the  case  in  many  other  quarters.  Moreover, 
statistics  show  indisputably  that  the  trade  of  the 
Colonies  is  largely  controlled  by  the  United  Kingdom, 
although  it  must  be  admitted  that  other  nations  are 
doing  their  utmost,  and  with  some  measure  of  success, 
to  obtain  a  share  of  it  —  a  matter  which  has  not,  per- 
haps, attracted  so  much  notice  as  it  merits. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  has  shown  a  readiness  to  look  upon 
the  question  from  its  commercial  aspect.  Indeed, 
nearly  all  those  who  have  studied  the  problem  admit 
the  value  of  the  sentiment  which  must  necessarily 
surround  it;  but,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  equally  gener- 
ally recognized  that  the  commercial  element  cannot, 
and  must  not,  be  ignored.  What  the  United  Kingdom 
looks  for  is  a  predominance  in  the  markets  of  the 
Empire ;  what  the  Colonies  desire  is  the  market  of  the 
Mother  Country  for  their  products,  which  they  hope 
to  see  favourably  regarded,  all  other  things,  such  as 
price  and  quality,  being  equal.  So  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  judge,  events  appear  to  be  marching  in  the 
direction  of  the  fulfilment  of  these  desirable  objects; 
but  progress  in  such  matters  is  necessarily  very  slow. 
Still,  I  think  the  public  mind  is  beginning  to  see  the 
advantage,  to  put  it  mildly,  of  the  relation  between 
the  different  parts  of  the  Empire  being  so  arranged 
as  to  place  Imperial  trade  on  a  friendly,  or  shall  I  say 
on  a  family,  footing.  Such  a  policy  could  not  fail 
to  be  beneficial  to  the  Empire,  and  I  cannot  see  any 
international  reason  to  militate  against  our  regarding 

337 


Lord  Strathcona 

from  a  more  favourable  point  of  view  our  internal 
trade  as  distinct  from  the  external  —  or,  let  me  say, 
our  "domestic  trade"  from  "foreign  trade." 

During  the  following  month  matters,  so  far  from 
improving  at  the  seat  of  war,  became  worse.  A  sec- 
ond contingent  from  Canada  was  announced  as 
forthcoming.  On  the  i8th  Sir  Wilfrid  cabled:  — 

It  is  important  that  the  commander  of  Second 
Canadian  Contingent  be  a  Canadian  officer  as  in  First 
Contingent.  Intimate  this  privately  to  Lord  Lans- 
downe  so  that  nothing  may  interfere  with  this  plan.1 

Lord  Strathcona  wrote:  — 

I  at  once  went  to  see  Lord  Lansdowne,  and,  after 
one  or  two  fruitless  attempts,  managed  to  get  an  inter- 
view with  him  yesterday  afternoon. 

His  Lordship  stated  that  in  all  probability  the 
Canadian  force  might  have  to  be  divided,  but  he  quite 
understood  the  importance  of  the  matter  from  your 
point  of  view,  and  I  left  him  with  the  understanding 
that  he  would  look  into  it,  and  see  that  nothing  was 
done  to  interfere  with  your  suggestion  being  carried  out. 
He  is  also  to  advise  me  further. 

Nevertheless  there  were  from  the  beginning,  un- 
satisfactory features  about  the  whole  arrangement 

1  "We  have,"  wrote  the  Prime  Minister,  "organized  our  contin- 
gent on  basis  laid  down  by  Colonial  Office  despatches  of  the  3d 
October,  which  provided  for  the  payment  of  our  men  after  they  reach 
Africa.  Efforts  are  being  made  to  induce  us  to  pay  our  own  men. 
For  Imperial  and  local  reasons  my  opinion  is  very  strongly  that  this 
question  should  not  be  pressed  now,  but  reserved  for  future  action, 
so  as  to  maintain  uniform  action  by  all  the  Colonies.  But  we  would 
like  to  supplement  the  pay  of  our  men  so  as  to  make  it  amount  to  that 
paid  them  when  serving  here."  (January  19th,  1900.) 

338 


A  Force  of  Rough-Riders 

between  the  Canadian  Government  and  the  War 
Office.  These  need  not  be  referred  to  here:  they 
must  be  familiar  to  any  who  have  perused  the  his- 
tory of  the  painfully  protracted  war  which  brought 
about  the  downfall  of  the  two  Boer  Republics. 

Shortly  after  Christmas  the  form  which  his  pri- 
vate assistance  to  the  Empire  should  take  had 
been  resolved.  He  mentioned  it  first  privately  to 
Mr.  Chamberlain,  who  heartily  applauded,  and 
then  formally,  on  December  31,  to  Lord  Lans- 
downe,  as  Secretary  for  War.  Briefly,  and  in  his 
own  words:  — 

My  proposal  is  that  four  hundred  men  should  be 
recruited  in  Manitoba,  the  North- West,  and  British 
Columbia,  unmarried  and  expert  marksmen,  at  home 
in  the  saddle,  and  thoroughly  efficient  as  rough-riders 
and  scouts.  The  force  will  be  armed,  equipped,  and 
conveyed  to  South  Africa  at  my  expense. 

Not  until  the  I3th  of  January  did  the  War  Office 
accept  his  offer.  Lord  Strathcona  cabled  General 
Edward  Hutton,  then  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Canadian  Militia  (or  as  he  himself  preferred  to  term 
it  " the  Canadian  Army") :  — 

Have  presented  mounted  regiment  to  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment for  service  in  South  Africa.  Request  you 
kindly  raise  same,  mount  same,  equip  same  in  Canada. 
Please  draw  on  my  account,  Bank  of  Montreal, 
£150,000.  My  friend  Sir  Edward  Clouston  will  pro- 
vide all  that  is  necessary. 

It  is  no  longer  a  secret  that  Lord  Strathcona 
would  have  desired  that  his  friend  Colonel  Hughes 

339 


Lord  Strathcona 

should  have  commanded  this  little  force,  but  he  re- 
solved to  leave  all  the  arrangements  in  the  hands 
of  the  Canadian  authorities.  Meanwhile,  much  as 
he  regretted  the  publicity,  the  fact  of  his  offer  had 
reached  Canada,  and  on  the  1 3th  he  cabled  the 
Premier :  — 

Much  concerned  that  matter  has  been  allowed  to 
become  public  prematurely  through  the  medium  of 
Ottawa  press  telegrams,  as  I  wished  without  my  name, 
but  secrecy  is  no  longer  possible.  Her  Majesty's  Gov- 
ernment has  now  accepted  my  proposition  and  it  may 
be  announced.  Horses  preferred  from  North- West  to 
be  purchased  by  McEachran  in  consultation  with 
General  Hutton ;  men  to  be  engaged  on  same  terms  as 
and  equipped  like  Canadian  contingents;  all  officers 
and  men  to  be  passed  medically  under  arrangements 
to  be  made  with  approval  of  Dr.  James  Stewart,  of 
Montreal,  and  General  Hutton.  Imperial  Govern- 
ment takes  over  force  on  arrival,  like  Colonial  contin- 
gents, returning  men  to  Canada  after  campaign,  but 
retaining  horses,  arms,  and  equipment  except  clothing 
and  necessaries. 

He  explained  further:  — 

The  matter,  of  course,  is  to  be  entirely  non-political, 
only  qualification  being  thorough  fitness  and  suitabil- 
ity of  officers  and  men  for  services  required.  Grateful 
to  you  for  use  Militia  Department,  which  will  assure 
every  economy  compatible  with  fullest  efficiency  and 
thorough  equipment  of  force.  Will  greatly  appreciate 
if  can  have  benefit  of  experience  of  General  Hutton  in 
the  selection  of  men  and  purchase  of  horses,  arms,  and 
equipment.  Officers  to  be  nominated  by  him  and 

340 


Strengthening  the  Bond 

names  and  particulars  submitted  my  approval.  All 
accounts  connected  with  the  force  till  its  embarkation, 
endorsed  by  General  Hutton,  will  be  paid  by  Edward 
S.  Clouston,  General  Manager  Bank  of  Montreal.  Any 
stores  or  equipment  not  obtainable  in  Canada  will 
purchase  here  as  done  for  contingents.  Am  enquiring 
about  transport  and  will  cable  further.  Please  tele- 
graph meantime  how  soon  force  likely  to  start. 

His  generous  and  unprecedented  offer  aroused 
the  utmost  enthusiasm  in  Canada  and  was  warmly 
praised  in  Britain.  The  Times,  in  referring  to  it 
remarked :  — 

How  immense  is  the  reserve  of  strength  on  which 
England,  in  a  just  cause,  can  draw,  is  strikingly  re- 
vealed in  the  munificent  offer  we  have  the  gratification 
of  recording  to-day.  It  comes  from  one  who  is  at  once 
a  Canadian  citizen  and  a  British  peer  —  Lord  Strath- 
cona  and  Mount  Royal,  the  Agent-General  for  the 
Dominion.  The  estimated  cost  of  this  munificence  is 
said  to  be  a  million  dollars,  or  £200,000.  There  are 
not  many  countries  in  the  world  where  individual 
citizens  are  to  be  found  able  and  ready  to  prove  their 
patriotism  on  so  splendid  a  scale.  Such  an  offering  to 
the  common  cause  of  the  Empire  would  have  been 
welcome  from  any  quarter.  It  is  doubly  welcome  from 
the  representative  of  our  greatest  self-governing  Col- 
ony. It  is  a  proof  how  this  war  and  these  misfor- 
tunes, which,  in  the  eyes  of  superficial  Continental 
critics  mark  the  beginning  of  our  downfall,  are  in  truth 
knitting  us  all  together  as  we  never  were  knit  before. 
Blood  and  iron  are  doing  their  work.1 

1  Read  fifteen  years  later  what  added  significance  have  these 
passages! 

341 


Lord  Strathcona 

It  was  the  opinion  of  many  military  critics  that 
no  more  efficient  rough-riders  and  scouts  could  be 
desired  than  these  men  of  the  saddle  and  rifle  from 
the  prairie.  It  would  have  been  easy  to  raise  in 
Canada  ten  times  the  number:  and  the  hope  was 
expressed  that  when  he  had  them  Lord  Roberts 
would  accord  them  the  fullest  opportunities  at  the 
front.  This  fresh  illustration  of  the  Canadian 
spirit  was  received  in  a  far  less  aloof  and  conde- 
scending spirit  than  was  the  case  when  the  first 
Canadian  contingent  was  offered  and  accepted. 

The  Canadian  Gazette  declared :  — 

It  is  for  want  of  just  such  men  as  these  Canadian 
mounted  riflemen,  and  the  scouting  and  irregular  work 
they  can  do  so  well,  that  our  army  has  suffered  severely 
in  South  Africa  in  face  of  a  mounted  enemy.  What 
four  hundred  of  the  Canadians  and  Australians  did  at 
Modder  River  under  Colonel  Pilcher  is  what  might 
have  been  done  at  the  outset  of  the  campaign  with  the 
greatest  advantage. 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

53  CADOGAN  SQUARE,  S.W.,  igth  January,  1900. 

I  now  take  the  opportunity  of  writing  to  confirm 
the  various  cablegrams  that  have  passed  between  us, 
respecting  the  organization  of  my  little  force  for  South 
Africa,  and  at  the  same  time  to  thank  you  most  cor- 
dially for  the  time  and  trouble  you  are  devoting  to 
the  matter. 

I  was  very  grateful,  indeed,  to  you  for  your  willing- 
ness to  place  the  organization  of  the  Militia  Depart- 
ment at  my  disposal,  for  the  raising  of  the  force,  the 

342 


Explains  his  Objects 

purchase  of  the  horses,  arms,  and  equipment,  and  the 
conveyance  of  the  corps  to  South  Africa. 

In  the  first  place,  my  impression  was,  that  as  the 
force  is  to  be  a  personal  one,  it  might  be  desirable  to 
deal  with  it  as  far  as  possible  in  that  manner,  so  that 
it  should  be  considered  not  as  being  in  any  sense  of  an 
official  character.  I  recognized  naturally  that  it  would 
be  difficult  to  carry  out  the  arrangements  without  the 
help  of  the  Government  and  Militia  Department,  but 
I  thought  the  object  I  had  in  view  would  be  better 
achieved  if  arrangements  could  be  made  for  General 
Hutton  to  act  practically  as  my  representative  in  the 
matter,  and  to  have  charge  of  the  detailed  arrange- 
ments, of  course,  in  connection  with  the  Minister  of 
Militia,  and  not  in  any  sense  independent  of  Dr. 
Borden. 

You  will,  I  know,  believe  that,  in  mentioning  my 
desire  that  the  matter  should  be  regarded  entirely  as 
non-political,  I  had  no  idea  of  making  any  reflection 
upon  the  organization  of  the  First  and  Second  Con- 
tingents. The  expression  was  merely  an  incidental  one, 
on  the  line  of  my  idea  that  the  force  should  not  be 
official  in  any  way  in  its  character.  Had  I  not  been 
convinced  thoroughly  that  no  considerations  of  a 
political  nature  had  been  allowed  to  intervene  in  con- 
nection with  the  Government  contingents,  I  should 
hardly  have  been  disposed  to  move  in  the  matter  at  all. 

You  will  understand,  I  am  sure,  that  the  principal 
concern  I  have  is  that  the  force  to  be  raised  should  be 
thoroughly  efficient  in  every  way,  that  the  men  and 
the  officers  should  be  the  most  suitable  that  can  be 
obtained  for  the  services  for  which  they  are  likely  to 
be  required.  And  further,  that  the  equipment  and 
armament  should  be  as  perfect  as  possible,  and  I  am 

343 


Lord  Strathcona 

sure  that  this  could  not  be  done  on  better  lines  than 
those  that  have  been  adopted  with  the  Government 
contingents. 

With  regard  to  the  officers,  I  should  like,  of  course, 
to  have  the  names  of  those  who  are  nominated  sub- 
mitted to  me  for  approval,  with  any  particulars  about 
them  that  may  be  available,  and  there  will  be  no  delay 
on  my  part  in  reply  to  any  communications  I  may 
receive  on  this  branch  of  the  subject. 

As  I  mentioned  in  one  of  my  telegrams,  I  am  quite 
willing  that  the  force  should  be  increased  to  four 
hundred  and  fifty  or  five  hundred  men,  if  this  is  found 
to  be  practicable,  and  if  a  suitable  ship  can  be  obtained, 
to  convey  the  number  of  men  that  may  be  selected 
within  these  limits,  and  the  necessary  horses.  I  am 
strongly  of  opinion  that  the  men  and  horses  should  go 
in  one  ship. 

It  will  be  understood,  of  course,  that  the  men  will  be 
paid  at  the  same  rates  as  the  men  forming  the  Govern- 
ment contingents.  While  I  shall  be  responsible  to  that 
extent,  and  for  the  expenses  connected  with  the  pur- 
chase of  the  arms,  horses,  equipment,  and  of  the  trans- 
port, no  other  responsibility  will  attach  to  me,  as  the 
force  will  be  taken  over,  like  the  Government  contin- 
gents, by  the  Imperial  Government,  on  its  arrival  in 
South  Africa. 

Unhappily,  Lord  Strathcona  had  not  been  in- 
formed of  the  strained  relations  which  existed  be- 
tween General  Hutton  and  the  Laurier  Ministry, 
which  were  now  at  all  but  the  breaking-point. 
Moreover,  General  Hutton's  rather  too-frank  ex- 
pression of  his  opinion  of  the  merits  of  the  Colonial 
militia,  as  compared  with  British  regulars,  had 

344 


Colonel  Sam  Hughes 

angered  several  of  the  leading  militia  officers, 
amongst  them,  Colonel  Hughes.  The  latter,  in  pro- 
test, had  addressed  an  open  letter  to  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief ,  which  General  Hutton  considered 
"unpardonable."  Yet  there  were  many  passages 
in  this  production  of  manifest  truth  and  force 
and  even  of  eloquence.  The  upshot  was  that  its 
writer  found  himself  unable  to  obtain  employment 
with  the  First  or  Second  Contingents. 

It  was  finally  through  Lord  Strathcona's  medi- 
ation, when  General  Hutton  shortly  afterwards 
arrived  in  England,  that  Colonel  Hughes  was  per- 
suaded to  take  a  step  toward  a  formal  reconcilia- 
tion which  resulted  in  his  being  given  employment 
in  South  Africa.  His  disappointment  was  keen  that 
he  was  not  to  command  the  Strathcona  Horse. 
An  offer  of  a  captaincy  in  that  troop  he  had  thought 
it  proper  to  decline. 

Colonel  Hughes  to  General  Hutton 

I  desire  to  make  full  and  ample  apology  to  you  for 
certain  letters  written  by  me  to  you  during  recent 
months,  letters  written  under  excitement  caused  by  the 
belief  that  I  was  to  be  debarred  from  participating  in 
the  deeds  of  a  Canadian  contingent  in  the  Imperial 
service,  should  one  be  sent  to  the  Transvaal,  a  project 
which  I,  as  the  proposer  for  many  years,  felt  deeply  at 
heart.  I  especially  regret  one  reflecting,  in  a  sense, 
upon  the  system,  but  the  remarks  I  deemed  a  provo- 
cation —  as  I  construed  them  —  were  a  reflection  upon 
Canadians ;  two  or  three  incidents  occurring  practically 
on  one  day  which  I,  from  the  viewpoint  of  one  more 

345 


Lord  Strathcona 

familiar  with  constitutional  law  rather  than  of  British 
military  practice,  believed  to  bear  upon  my  honour  and 
rights  as  a  citizen,  caused  me  to  express  sentiments  that 
are  foreign  to  my  belief  in  the  form  in  which  they  seem. 
I  most  respectfully  wish  to  retract  all  letters  written 
in  what,  to  your  military  instinct,  may  seem  insubor- 
dination, but  which  were  not  so  meant  by  me. 

Meanwhile,  an  excellent  officer  for  the  force  had 
been  found,  another  Ontarian,  Colonel  S.  B.  Steele, 
who  had  already  distinguished  himself  in  the 
Mounted  Police.  He  writes :  — 

Two  months  after  the  First  Canadian  Contingent  had 
sailed  for  South  Africa  I  heard  that  it  was  likely  that  a 
mounted  corps  would  be  sent  to  the  war.  I  went  to 
Halifax,  and  had  been  there  only  two  days  when  Sir 
Frederick  Borden,  Minister  of  Militia,  telegraphed  for 
me  to  return  to  Ottawa  and  raise  and  command  a  corps 
of  mounted  riflemen  for  Lord  Strathcona,  who  was 
sending  a  regiment  to  South  Africa  at  his  own  expense. 
I  was  to  be  allowed  to  take  with  me  any  officers  and 
men  of  the  Mounted  Police  who  had  volunteered  for 
the  service  and  could  be  spared  from  their  duties,  and  I 
could  have  the  service  of  the  remainder  to  recruit  the 
corps. 

One  squadron  was  to  be  raised  in  Manitoba,  another 
in  the  North-West  Territory,  and  the  third  in  British 
Columbia;  the  whole  of  the  saddlery,  clothing,  trans- 
port wagons,  and  many  other  articles  of  equipment  had 
to  be  manufactured.  The  horses  had  to  be  purchased 
at  the  very  worst  time  of  the  year  and  were  to  be  cow- 
horses,  that  is,  animals  trained  in  round-up  and  all 
range  work.  Recruits  were  not  wanting;  one  could 
have  got  thousands  of  the  best  men  in  Canada.  I  had 

346 


Colonel  Steele  in  Command 

an  offer  from  six  hundred  first-class  Arizona  stock  men. 
They  were  prepared  to  supply  their  own  arms,  pay  for 
any  class  of  rifle  that  I  desired,  furnish  their  own 
horses,  spare  and  riding,  if  I  would  take  them  for 
Strathcona's  Horse.  I  had,  of  course,  to  decline,  but 
it  was  clear  proof  of  what  the  Empire  can  expect  in 
time  of  trouble.  One  could  have  had  the  assistance 
of  thousands  of  the  finest  horsemen  in  the  United 
States. 

The  recruiting  was  completed  on  February  8,  and 
was  most  satisfactory.  On  the  I4th,  we  reached  Ot- 
tawa, and  were  quartered  in  Lansdowne  Park  Exhib- 
ition Ground.  The  regiment  was  cheered  at  every 
station  en  route.  March  6,  I  paraded  the  regiment 
for  inspection  of  the  Governor-General.  Our  space 
was  limited,  and  the  snow,  being  above  the  horses' 
knees,  prevented  me  from  doing  more  than  march  past 
in  sections  of  fours,  but  the  corps  looked  well. 

The  corps  was  at  last  complete  and  ready  to  move 
at  a  moment's  notice,  all  the  result  of  one  month's 
work.  During  these  strenuous  days  I  had  much  en- 
couragement from  Lord  Strathcona,  who  wrote  me 
several  kindly  letters,  impressing  upon  me  that  I  was 
to  spare  no  expense  in  providing  for  the  comfort  of  the 
men  and  the  efficiency  of  the  regiment.  I  could  say 
that  in  every  respect  I  had  carried  out  his  wishes  to  the 
fullest  extent  and  with  due  regard  to  economy,  and 
thanks  to  his  liberality  and  the  active  assistance  I 
received  from  all  concerned,  I  am  sure  it  would  have 
been  impossible  to  find  a  better  equipped  corps  in  the 
world. 

On  March  17,  the  Strathcona  Horse  embarked 
upon  the  Monterey  at  Halifax,  numbering  28  offi- 
cers, 512  other  ranks,  and  599  horses. 

347 


Lord  Strathcona 

The  following  cable  message  was  received  from 
Lord  Strathcona,  which,  when  published  on  board, 
was  received  with  hearty  cheers  in  every  part  of  the 
ship :  — 

Very  sorry  I  cannot  see  my  force  embark.  Have 
transmitted  Dr.  Borden  gracious  message  I  have 
received  from  Her  Majesty,  which  he  will  publicly 
convey  to  you  and  the  men  under  your  command. 
Have  also  asked  him  to  express  my  best  wishes  to  you 
all,  and  that  you  have  a  pleasant  voyage,  every  suc- 
cess, and  a  safe  return.  Appointments  of  all  officers 
gazetted ;  they  will  receive  their  commissions  from  the 
Queen.  Hope  to  forward  them  to  reach  you  at  Cape- 
town, where  you  will  find  a  letter  on  your  arrival. 
Report  yourself  to  the  General  Officer  Commanding, 
Capetown.  STRATHCONA. 

Excellent  as  were  the  arrangements  on  board  for 
the  comfort  of  all  ranks,  the  voyage  was  not  a 
pleasant  one. 

No  sooner  [writes  Colonel  Steele]  did  we  get  out  into 
the  open  sea  than,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  could  not 
be  called  rough,  the  vessel  rolled  heavily,  a  motion 
which  she  kept  up  on  the  slightest  excuse  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  trip.  After  a  few  days  one  of  the 
horses  developed  pneumonia,  and  from  day  to  day 
many  went  to  feed  the  sharks.  The  greatest  care  was 
taken,  but  it  was  of  little  avail,  the  disease  had  to  run 
its  course,  and  it  was  a  pitiful  sight  to  see  so  many 
exceptionally  fine  animals  thrown  overboard. 

On  April  loth  the  Monterey  arrived  and  an- 
chored in  Table  Bay  and  the  commander  found 
letters  from  Lord  Strathcona,  "all  containing  use- 

348 


Hutton  and  Borden  Quarrel 

ful  advice.  He  sent  out  150  field-glasses  and  wire- 
cutters,  whilst  money  was  placed  to  my  credit  to 
purchase  lassoes,  extra  tea,  and  tobacco." 

Colonel  Steele  describes  how,  while  the  Strath- 
cona  Horse  were  on  the  march,  Sir  Redvers  Buller 
rode  up  with  his  staff,  and  passed  in  and  out 
through  the  column  of  troops,  expressing  himself 
very  much  pleased.  He  said:  — 

I  knew  Lord  Strathcona  very  well,  when  I  was  in 
Winnipeg  on  the  Red  River  Expedition  of  1870.  It 
was  arranged  with  him  that  I  should  go  west  to  dis- 
tribute the  Queen's  proclamation;  but  it  turned  out 
that  I  was  required  with  my  regiment,  and  Butler 
went  instead,  a  very  good  thing  too ;  for  he  wrote  a  very 
good  book  describing  his  journey,  which  I  could  not 
have  done. 

This  is  somewhat  in  advance  of  our  narrative. 
The  quarrel  between  General  Hutton  and  Dr. 
(later  Sir  Frederick)  Borden,  led  to  a  demand  for 
the  former's  recall.  Mr.  Chamberlain  had  in  vain 
endeavoured  to  heal  the  breach. 

From  Mr.  Joseph  Chamberlain 

I3th  February,  1900. 

DEAR  LORD  STRATHCONA:  — 

Thanks  for  your  letter  of  the  loth  instant,  telling  me 
of  the  message  which  you  have  received  from  Sir 
Wilfrid  Laurier  about  General  Hutton.  I  can  only  say 
that  I  deeply  regret  that  after  my  promise  to  endeav- 
our to  settle  the  matter  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Dominion  Government,  they  should  have  thought  it 

349 


Lord  Strathcona 

necessary  to  send  an  official  application  for  General 
Hutton's  recall.  Their  action  will  necessitate  my 
sending  an  official  reply,  going  into  the  whole  history 
of  the  relations  between  the  officers  appointed  by  the 
Imperial  Government  and  the  Dominion  Ministers. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  your  Ministers  of 
Militia  in  Canada?"  asked  the  Colonial  Secre- 
tary. "  Is  there  no  one  of  our  Imperial  officers  with 
whom  they  can  work  harmoniously?  I  confess 
frankly  I  am  disappointed.  I  thought  Hutton  and 
Dr.  Borden  would  get  along  well  together." 

Alas,  four  years  later,  as  we  shall  see,  there  was 
to  be  a  further  rupture  with  another  British  com- 
manding officer.  On  that  occasion  Lord  Strath- 
cona privately  deplored  the  part  politics  had  al- 
ways played  in  militia  affairs  in  Canada.  "I'm 
afraid  it  will  take  years  or  some  great  national 
danger  to  put  our  military  service  on  a  plane  above 
party  interests,"  he  said. 

From  Lord  Strathcona 

February  lyth,  1900. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  WILFRID:  — 

The  position  with  regard  to  General  Hutton  as 
shown  in  your  confidential  letters  of  the  3Oth  inst., 
received  yesterday,  is  a  most  regrettable  one  and 
gives  much  concern  both  to  Mr.  Chamberlain  and 
Lord  Lansdowne. 

The  experience  with  the  generals  sent  out  to  com- 
mand the  militia  has  been  anything  but  a  satisfactory 
one,  and  ever  since  the  retirement  of  Sir  Selby  Smyth, 
five  in  succession,  including  General  Hutton,  have 

350 


General  Hutton  recalled 

been  recalled,  as  being  for  one  reason  or  another 
unacceptable  to  the  Canadian  Government. 

On  getting  your  confidential  telegrams  I  communi- 
cated on  the  subject  with  Mr.  Chamberlain,  who  made 
a  suggestion  to  the  War  Office  of  appointing  Hutton 
for  service  in  South  Africa.  It  may  be  impossible  at 
the  moment  to  find  an  officer  in  every  way  qualified 
to  be  his  successor. 

He  assured  me  that  not  a  moment  was  being  un- 
necessarily lost  in  carrying  out  your  views  concerning 
the  transfer  of  the  General  for  service  elsewhere.  I 
communicated  to  him  your  suggestion  about  Lake. 

I  called  on  him  yesterday,  and  he  then  said  that 
they  would  not  be  able  to  send  Colonel  Lake  to  replace 
General  Hutton,  who  I  presume  will  soon  be  here  on 
his  way  to  South  Africa. 

That  same  day  the  High  Commissioner  received 
a  cable  from  Sir  Wilfrid :  — 

1 6th  February,  1900. 

Concerning  the  official  despatch  for  the  recall  of 
General  Hutton,  we  would  have  been  all  along  willing 
to  have  a  confidential  communication.  The  demand 
for  official  communication  did  not  come  from  us.  That 
communication  when  received  may  be  kept  in  abey- 
ance to  be  withdrawn,  unless  General  Hutton  forces 
whole  question  before  Parliament. 

In  the  following  year  the  whole  question  was  un- 
happily forced  upon  the  Canadian  Parliament, 
when  it  was  conclusively  shown  that  the  Govern- 
ment could  hardly  have  overlooked  the  indiscre- 
tions of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  in  certain  pub- 
lic speeches  reported  in  the  newspapers,  without 

35i 


Lord  Strathcona 

sacrificing  its  dignity  or  impairing  the  prerogative 
of  the  Minister  of  Militia. 

The  surrender  of  the  Boer  General  Cronje  at 
Paardeberg  caused  much  satisfaction  in  Canada. 
Lord  Strathcona  cabled  the  news  instantly  to  Sir 

Wilfrid  Laurier:  — 

February  ayth,  1900. 

Lord  Roberts  reports  that  at  3  A.M.  to-day  a  most 
dashing  advance  made  by  Canadian  regiment  and 
some  engineers,  supported  by  First  Gordon  Highland- 
ers and  Second  Shropshire,  resulted  in  our  gaining  a 
point  some  six  hundred  yards  nearer  the  enemy  and 
within  eighty  yards  of  his  trenches,  where  our  men 
entrenched  themselves  and  maintained  their  position 
till  morning.  A  gallant  deed  worthy  of  our  Colonial 
comrades  and  which  I  am  glad  to  say  was  attended 
with  comparatively  slight  loss.  This  apparently 
clinched  matters,  for  at  daylight  to-day  a  letter  signed 
by  Cronje,  in  which  he  stated  that  he  surrendered 
unconditionally,  was  brought  to  our  outpost  under  a 
flag  of  truce.  Lord  Roberts's  despatch  was  read  in 
House  of  Commons  and  House  of  Lords  to-day  and  the 
reference  to  the  gallantry  of  Canadian  regiment  was 
loudly  cheered. 

The  Paardeberg  success  apparently  suggested 
to  Mr.  Cecil  Rhodes  that  another  Canadian  bat- 
talion might  be  employed  in  Rhodesia,  and  he  com- 
municated the  suggestion  to  Mr.  Chamberlain. 

From  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

March  Qth,  1900. 

The  Colonial  Secretary  proposes  recruiting  in  West- 
ern Canada  for  special  service  in  Rhodesia:  this  force 

352 


Rhodes  asks  for  Canadians 

to  be  raised  at  a  special  rate  of  pay,  and  as  we  under- 
stand from  an  agent  here  practically  for  service  of  the 
Chartered  Company.  If  anything  of  the  kind  was  to 
be  done  it  will  be  necessary  to  have  an  official  despatch 
from  Colonial  Secretary  making  unmistakable  distinc- 
tion between  proposed  force  and  those  already  sent 
to  South  African  War.  If  such  distinction  is  clearly 
marked  and  the  purpose  of  force  stated  in  express 
terms  at  the  time  of  recruiting,  then  there  would  be  no 
objection  to  course  proposed.  Without  such  clear  dis- 
tinctions, object  of  recruiting  might  be  misconceived 
and  create  serious  embarrassment.  See  Colonial  Secre- 
tary, discuss  subject,  and  advise  us. 

Lord  Strathcona  wrote:  — 

I  at  once  communicated  this  message  personally 
to  Mr.  Chamberlain.  I  understood  your  suggestion 
would  be  adopted  if  the  matter  were  proceeded  with, 
but  owing  to  difficulties  the  subject  would  probably 
be  dropped. 

The  Colonial  Office  have  since  sent  me,  for  my  con- 
fidential information,  a  copy  of  a  telegram  which  was 
addressed  to  the  Governor-General  on  the  2d  inst.,  to 
the  effect  that  Her  Majesty's  Government  did  not 
propose  to  proceed  with  the  proposal. 

He  much  desired  that  his  friend  Sir  Charles 
Tupper,  the  leader  of  the  Opposition  in  Canada, 
should  be  present  at  the  departure  from  Halifax  of 
the  Strathcona  Horse.  This  proved  impracticable, 
but  he  was  much  gratified  at  receiving  the  follow- 
ing: letter: — 


353 


Lord  Strathcona 

From  Sir  Charles  Tupper 

OTTAWA,  March  i8th,  1900. 

MY  DEAR  LORD  STRATHCONA:  — 

Your  kind  cable  of  the  9th  inst.  gave  me  a  great  deal 
of  pleasure  as  far  at  it  referred  to  myself,  but  I  was 
very  sorry  to  hear  that  you  had  been  so  ill.  I  would 
have  been  very  glad  to  comply  with  your  wishes  that 
I  should  see  the  Strathcona  Horse  off  at  Halifax,  but 
I  learned  that  Borden  was  going,  and  it  was  very 
difficult  for  me  to  leave  the  House  at  such  a  critical 
period  of  the  Session.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  expressing 
the  feeling  of  the  people  of  Canada  upon  your  munifi- 
cent act,  which  has  done  so  much  for  our  Dominion, 
during  the  Debate  on  the  Address,  and  of  speaking  to 
your  contingent  on  the  grounds  at  their  quarters,  and 
at  Parliament  Square,  where  they  were  reviewed  by 
the  Governor-General. 

If  you  will  accept  it,  I  have  no  doubt  to  the  joy  of 
all  Canadians,  you  will  be  the  successor  of  His  Excel- 
lency, nor  do  I  doubt  the  British  Government  will 
mark  your  valuable  services  to  the  Crown  by  making 
your  Peerage  descend  to  your  daughter  and  her  son. 

We  are,  I  think,  on  the  eve  of  a  general  election,  the 
result  of  which  I  feel  confident  will  be  our  return  to 
power.  I  will  not  say  more  than  to  beg  you  on  no 
condition  to  vacate  the  High  Commissionership  before 
a  general  election  takes  place. 

Do  not  fail  to  take  care  of  your  health,  upon  which 
the  whole  country  is  so  anxious. 

With  kindest  regards  to  Lady  Strathcona  and  your- 
self, I  am,  always, 

Yours  faithfully, 

CHARLES  TUPPER. 

354 


Tupper's  Suggestion 

On  the  same  day  Sir  Charles  also  wrote:  — 

To  Mr.  Joseph  Chamberlain 

OTTAWA,  March  i8th,  1900. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  CHAMBERLAIN:  — 

I  am  sure  you  will  be  satisfied  I  made  no  mistake, 
either  from  a  Canadian  or  an  Imperial  standpoint,  to 
suggest  that  a  peerage  should  be  conferred  upon  Sir 
Donald  Smith,  and  I  feel  certain  that  you  will  excuse 
me  for  saying  that  all  Canadians  will  rejoice  if  his  great 
services  to  the  Crown  at  an  important  crisis  are  rec- 
ognized by  arranging  that  his  peerage  shall  descend 
to  his  only  child,  the  Honourable  Mrs.  Howard.  She 
is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Howard,  who  is  the  first  Canadian 
who  took  the  fellowship  of  the  Royal  College  of 
Surgeons.  His  father  was  the  most  eminent  physician 
in  Montreal,  and  a  professor  in  the  McGill  University. 
Mrs.  Howard  would  grace  any  position,  and  her 
family  of  sons  and  daughters  are  bright  and  interest- 
ing. You  can  imagine  what  it  would  be  for  Lord 
Strathcona,  like  myself  so  near  the  close  of  life,  to  feel 
that  his  grandson,  Donald  Howard,  would  one  day 
wear  his  title.  It  is  right  you  should  know  that  no 
person  living  knows  I  have  made  this  suggestion  to 
you,  and  I  am  quite  sure  you  will  appreciate  the  spirit 
in  which  it  is  made. 

You,  beyond  all  your  predecessors,  have  established 
the  principle  that  service  to  the  Crown  shall  receive 
the  same  recognition  in  the  outlying  portions  of  the 
Empire  as  in  the  Mother  Country. 

I  was  glad  to  find,  when  addressing  a  great  meeting 
on  the  5th  at  Boston,  in  favour  of  the  Patriotic  Fund, 


355 


Lord  Strathcona 

a  reference  to  yourself  and  your  policy  on  the  Transvaal 
was  received  with  the  wildest  enthusiasm. 
With  best  wishes,  I  remain, 
Yours  faithfully, 

CHARLES  TUPPER. 

It  had  been  Lord  Strathcona's  ardent  wish,  al- 
though Providence  had  denied  him  a  son,  that  he 
should  be  the  founder  of  a  family  bearing  his  name 
and  continuing  in  the  path  he  had  marked  out  and 
so  long  had  trod. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  to  Sir  Charles  Tupper 

COLONIAL  OFFICE,  3ist  March,  1900. 

DEAR  SIR  CHARLES  TUPPER:  — 

I  have  to  thank  you  for  your  letter  of  the  i8th,  and 
the  suggestion  which  you  made  in  it.  No  one  appre- 
ciates more  than  I  do  the  character  and  services  of 
Lord  Strathcona,  and  I  shall  be  delighted  if  I  can  for- 
ward his  wishes  in  any  way.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how- 
ever, when  the  peerage  was  conferred,  the  subject  of 
its  continuance  to  a  daughter  was  considered,  and  it 
was  found  that  there  were  great  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  such  an  unusual  grant.  It  is  possible  that  these  dif- 
ficulties may  ultimately  be  surmounted,  and  you  may 
count  on  my  seizing  any  opportunity  of  securing  the 
desired  result.1 

I  am,  etc., 

Yours  very  faithfully, 

J.  CHAMBERLAIN. 

Nothing  could  exceed  his  pleasure  at  the  pros- 
pect held  out  that  certain  obstacles,   which  he 
1  The  new  royal  patent  was  granted  a  few  months  later. 
356 


His  Gratitude  to  Tupper 

knew  were  founded  upon  error,  but  which  he  was 
too  proud  himself  to  point  out,  might,  through  the 
unsolicited  exertions  of  his  friends,  be  removed. 

To  Sir  Charles  Tupper 

53  CADOGAN  SQUARE,  S.W., 
May  4th,  1900. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  CHARLES:  — 

Your  letter  of  the  22d  April,  having  under  cover 
copy  of  a  letter  from  yourself  to  Mr.  Chamberlain,  of 
the  1 8th  March,  and  of  his  reply  of  the  3ist  of  that 
month,  has  this  moment  reached  me,  and  I  must  send 
you  a  word  of  grateful  thanks  for  all  your  great  kind- 
ness to  me  and  mine,  to  catch  to-day's  mail. 

The  kindness  which  actuated  you  in  writing  to  Mr. 
Chamberlain  as  you  did,  I  appreciate  infinitely  more 
than  I  would  the  fulfilment  of  the  object  you  had  in 
view  in  doing  so,  and  I  need  only  say  that  I  am  truly 
grateful  to  you.  My  wife  and  daughter  will  be  not  less 
so;  but  let  me  say  that  I  would  never  have  moved  a 
finger,  or  said  one  word  in  furtherance  of  that  object, 
however  much  I  might  desire  it  for  my  daughter  and 
her  children. 

It  is  true  that  when  a  peerage  was  offered  me,  a  word 
was  said  on  the  subject,  but  the  thought  was  then  dis- 
missed from  my  mind,  and  in  anything  I  may  have  said 
or  done  has  not  recurred  to  me  since. 

In  a  letter  you  most  kindly  wrote  to  me,  bearing  on 
the  reception  in  Ottawa  and  Montreal  to  my  little 
corps  of  mounted  men,  you  brought  up  the  subject  in 
the  kindest  terms,  but  I  had  no  expectation  you  would 
have  gone  further,  and  what  is  said  in  your  present 
letter  is  therefore,  with  its  contents,  its  enclosures,  a 
pleasant  surprise,  that  in  one  quarter  at  least  on  this 

357 


Lord  Strathcona 

side  there  is  an  appreciation  of  what  little  I  may  have 
endeavoured  to  do  for  the  benefit  of  Canada. 

Again  I  thank  you.  I  am  not  sure  I  have  yet  ex- 
pressed to  you  how  sensible  I  am  of  all  you  did  in  the 
send-off  of  my  little  battalion  from  Ottawa,  but  I  hope 
you  know  how  deeply  I  feel  all  the  kindness  and  at- 
tention shown  to  them  by  yourself  and  other  friends. 

We  were  much  grieved  to  hear  of  the  serious  acci- 
dent to  Lady  Tupper,  and  we  earnestly  trust  she  is 
now  quite  recovered. 

With  our  kindest  regards  for  her  and  yourself,  and 
in  much  haste,  I  am, 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

STRATHCONA. 

A  fortnight  before  he  had  written :  — 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

LONDON,  2ist  April,  1900. 

It  was  a  great  regret  to  me  not  to  have  undertaken 
my  intended  visit  to  Canada  this  past  winter,  but  as 
I  had  a  sharp  attack  of  pleurisy  the  doctors  thought 
it  more  prudent  I  should  not  venture  crossing  the 
Atlantic  till  later  on;  but  I  still  look  forward  to  being 
in  Canada  early  in  the  summer,  as  I  have  quite  re- 
gained my  accustomed  health. 

The  very  valuable  service  of  Archbishop  Bruchesi 
and  Principal  Peterson,  in  their  efforts  to  heal  the 
breach  so  unfortunately  caused  by  some  of  the  McGill 
students  in  their  over-zeal  and  enthusiasm  in  connec- 
tion with  the  war  in  South  Africa,  to  which  you  refer, 
cannot  be  too  highly  appreciated  by  all  who  have  the 
true  interests  of  our  country  at  heart. 

358 


A  Bi-cameral  Advocate 

Both  His  Grace  and  the  Principal  have  been  good 
enough  to  write  me  on  the  subject,  the  letters  of  the 
former  having  only  just  come  to  hand.  To  Dr.  Peter- 
son I  had  already  written,  and  I  shall  not  fail  to  write 
to  the  Archbishop  expressing  my  deep  sense  of  the 
obligation  we  owe  him  for  having  so  successfully  helped 
to  avert  a  racial  cleavage,  than  which  I  am  entirely 
of  opinion  with  you  nothing  could  be  more  deplorable 
as  affecting  the  future  of  the  Dominion. 

I  need  not  say  to  you  how  your  own  efforts  in  the 
cause  of  the  unity  of  the  Empire  are  appreciated  both 
here  and  throughout  the  Queen's  Dominions. 

During  April  the  delegates  from  the  Australian 
Colonies  to  the  Imperial  Parliament,  seeking  na- 
tionhood under  the  British  flag,  arrived  in  England. 
At  a  banquet  in  their  honour  Lord  Strathcona, 
who  responded  to  the  toast  of  "The  Home  and 
Colonial  Legislatures,"  told  his  hearers  — 

that  they  would  do  well,  instead  of  speaking  of  the 
Home  and  Colonial  Legislatures,  to  speak  of  the 
Legislatures  of  the  Empire.  But  they  all  looked  to 
the  Home  Legislature,  to  our  Lords  and  Commons. 
In  all  the  countries  to  which  Englishmen  had  gone, 
they  thought  of  that  Mother  of  Parliaments,  the  Par- 
liament of  Great  Britain,  and  they  had  also  thought 
of  and  loved  that  cradle  of  liberty,  their  Mother 
Country.  They  had,  he  believed,  in  almost  every 
country,  decided  that  it  was  a  wise  thing  that  there 
should  be  two  branches  of  the  Legislature  —  one  a 
check  upon  the  other.  When  there  was  only  one 
there  might  be  some  hasty  legislation  which  might 
cause  regret  in  the  future.  When  there  was  a  second, 
the  opportunity  was  given  for  revising  what  had  been 

359 


Lord  Strathcona 

done.  In  the  Legislatures  of  the  outlying  portions  of 
the  Empire  there  were  altogether  some  fifty  distinct 
and  separate  Governments  having  their  distinct  Leg- 
islatures. Of  these  he  thought  there  were  some  eleven 
having  responsible  government.  If  they  counted  the 
Dominion  of  Canada  as  one  of  the  nations  equally 
with  Scotland,  Ireland,  Wales,  which  all  contributed 
to  the  prosperity  of  the  United  Kingdom,  if  they 
counted  the  seven  or  eight  Provinces  of  Canada, 
they  would  have,  instead  of  eleven  responsible  gov- 
ernments, something  like  eighteen  or  twenty.  We 
were  now  about  to  have  another  commonwealth  or 
nation.  They  were  all  proud  and  pleased  to  be  there 
that  evening  to  join  in  receiving  and  doing  honour  to 
the  delegates  who  came  for  that  great  and  momentous 
purpose  of  forming  a  new  nation.  But  while  it  would 
be  a  new  nation,  it  would  not  be,  less  than  Canada, 
one  in  the  most  complete  union  with  the  Mother 
Country.  They  had  with  very  great  care  and  very 
great  consideration  come  to  the  determination  that 
instead  of  being  isolated,  —  if  he  might  so  speak  of 
the  Colonies,  —  they  should  be  one  people  for  all 
purposes  of  legislation ;  and  they  came  to  the  Mother 
Country  with  the  full  assurance  that  the  Imperial 
Parliament  would  be  only  too  happy  to  help  them  to 
carry  out  that  which  they  believed  was  a  measure  the 
best  that  could  be  devised  for  the  purpose  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  their  country. 

Speaking  elsewhere  Lord  Strathcona  said :  — 

Australians  had  a  good  example  in  Canada,  but  they 
have  not  followed  us  in  any  detail,  having  looked 
rather  to  the  United  States  of  America  in  regard  to 
the  relations  of  the  Provinces  to  the  Federal  Power. 

360 


"General"  Strathcona 

He  was,  besides,  all  for  the  retention  of  the  ap- 
peal to  the  Imperial  Privy  Council,  which  the  Com- 
monwealth Bill  disallowed.  The  clause  was,  owing 
to  Mr.  Chamberlain's  opposition,  deleted  before  the 
Act  was  passed  by  Parliament. 

During  the  Boer  War  Lord  Strathcona  was  in 
constant  receipt  of  extraordinary  letters,  many  of 
them  anonymous,  giving  him  advice  and  informa- 
tion as  to  events  connected  with  hostilities.  Some 
of  his  correspondents,  especially  those  in  remote 
parts  of  the  Empire,  even  in  Canada,  laboured 
under  a  curious  delusion  as  to  his  own  personal 
status.  Letters  addressed  to  "General"  or  "Colo- 
nel" Lord  Strathcona  were  not,  infrequent.  One 
which  greatly  entertained  him  spoke  of  his  "well 
known  bravery  and  skill  on  the  battlefield  of  which 
the  newspapers  are  now  full."  This  he  forwarded 
to  Colonel  Steele,  marking  it,  "wrongly  addressed." 
Another  was  hardly  so  complimentary.  It  was 
from  an  old  Hudson's  Bay  employee,  who  wrote:  — 

I  have  been  reading  your  doings  in  South  Africa 
with  great  surprise.  Little  did  I  think  in  the  old  days 
that  you  would  ever  make  a  soldier.  Peace,  I  thought, 
was  more  in  your  line. 

I  hope  " Strathcona's  Horse"  [wrote  another  un- 
known correspondent  with  more  enthusiasm]  will  plant 
the  Union  Jack  on  the  Court-House  of  Pretoria,  and 
that  the  Canadians  will  be  the  first  to  reach  Mafeking, 
and  the  God  who  made  a  way  for  his  ransomed  people 
to  cross  the  Red  Sea,  closed  the  lion's  jaws  for  Daniel, 
tempered  the  flames  for  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and 


Lord  Strathcona 

Abednego,  and  the  host  whom  Elijah  prayed  the  Lord 
to  open  the  eyes  of  his  servant  to  see,  —  may  that 
same  host  encompass  our  soldiers  and  be  a  cloud  by 
day  and  a  light  by  night  until  they  come  home  again. 
And  may  God  always  bless  our  Empire,  keep  our  men 
true  to  her,  always  remembering  the  knightly  hero 
St.  George,  their  patron  saint.  And  right  worthy  is 
Strathcona  to  carry  the  Standard  of  St.  George. 
Never  forget  that  you  belong  to  Canada  and  Canada 
to  you! 

One  letter  was  so  singular  that  the  High  Com- 
missioner forwarded  a  copy  of  it  to  the  Prime 
Minister:  — 

ST.  CATHERINE,  ONTARIO, 
April  5th,  1900. 

As  you  are  a  statesman  that  we  trust,  give  this 
matter  your  closest  attention  at  once.  Certain  Yankees 
are  secretly  encouraging  the  Fenians,  furnishing  them 
with  firearms  and  giving  them  advice,  the  principal 
one  just  now  being  to  blow  up  part  of  the  Welland 
Canal,  thus  diverting  trade  from  Montreal  and  way 
ports  to  New  York.  I  am  telling  you  facts;  it  is  fully 
discussed  in  the  States.  Forewarned  is  forearmed! 
They  have  an  opinion  they  could  take  Canada  in 
twenty-four  hours  if  they  wanted  to. 

Having  read  and  smiled  at  this  letter,  which  was 
filled  with  extravagances,  Lord  Strathcona  picked 
up  the  Times,  therein  to  read  that  an  attempt  had 
actually  been  made  on  the  Welland  Canal. 

Lord  Strathcona  in  responding,  at  the  Press 
Club  annual  dinner,  to  the  toast,  "The  Imperial 
Forces,"  in  April,  1900,  said:  — 

362 


Canada's  Simple  Duty 

Had  the  toast  been  submitted  in  its  old  stereotyped 
form  it  would  have  been  very  little  appropriate  for 
him  to  have  responded  to  it.  It  was  formerly  of  so 
local  a  character  that  those  who  came  from  the  out- 
lying portions  of  the  Queen's  dominions  could  hardly 
have  been  expected  to  answer  to  such  a  toast  other- 
wise than  by  expressing  the  fullest  sympathy  with  the 
Mother  Country.  Now,  however,  the  toast,  instead  of 
being  "The  Army,  Navy,  and  Auxiliary  Forces,"  was 
given  in  what  he  considered  the  improved  form  of ' '  The 
Imperial  Forces."  It  showed  that  there  was  an  Empire, 
and  that  Great  Britain  alone  could  not  form  that 
Empire;  that  without  her  Colonies  there  could  be  no 
Empire  in  reality.  The  Colonies  recognized  this,  too, 
but  they  considered  that  their  fealty,  their  duty,  their 
homage,  was  owing  to  the  mother  who  sent  them  forth. 
A  few  years  ago  they  had  the  example  of  one  of  the 
Australasian  Colonies  coming  to  the  aid  of  the  Mother 
Country;  now  every  outlying  portion  of  the  Empire 
where  Englishmen  were  to  be  found  not  only  came  to 
the  aid  of  the  Mother  Country,  but  fought  the  battles 
of  the  Empire  and  of  her  who  was  Queen  and  Empress  of 
the  whole  of  our  great  dominions.  The  men  from  Aus- 
tralasia had  done  well,  the  men  from  Canada  had  also 
done  well,  but  they  had  not  done  more  than  the  great 
and  true  men  of  the  Imperial  Army,  and  he  was  sure 
that  they  themselves  would  be  the  last  to  assume  that 
they  had  done  anything  more  than  their  simple  duty. 

War  was  a  dreadful  thing,  but  war  had  its  lessons, 
and,  if  it  disclosed  weaknesses  and  imperfections  oc- 
casionally, it  also  gave  an  opportunity  for  remedying 
them,  and  that  opportunity  would  not  be  lost  on  the 
nation.  Nothing  could  have  shown  the  unity  of  the 
Empire  as  this  war  had  done,  and  in  that  respect  it  had 

363 


Lord  Strathcona 

been  a  good  rather  than  an  evil.  It  had  been  an  object 
lesson  for  the  world;  one  which  the  nations  would 
doubtless  take  to  heart.  The  unity  of  the  British 
Empire  was  no  longer  an  ideal,  it  was  a  fact.  Nothing 
could  contribute  more  to  that  unity  than  the  fact 
that  the  sons  of  the  Empire  were  fighting  together  and 
nobly  and  willingly  giving  their  blood  for  its  weal. 
Citizens  of  the  Empire  looked  to  the  Army  and  the 
Navy  and  to  the  Imperial  forces  —  and  he  was  sure 
they  would  never  look  in  vain  —  to  maintain  the 
dignity,  the  honour,  and  the  solidarity  of  the  Empire. 

Said  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  at  a  public  meeting  in 
April:  — 

I  cannot  avoid  referring  to  the  patriotic  efforts  of 
Lord  Strathcona  in  raising  the  regiment  which  has 
borne  his  name,  and  sustaining  it  in  the  field  for  so 
long  a  time  in  Africa.  "  Strathcona's  Horse"  is  a 
remarkable  force,  and  its  composition  epitomizes  the 
opinion  which  Canada  has  deliberately  formed  as  to 
the  rights  and  wrongs  of  the  war  that  is,  unfortunately, 
still  proceeding.  The  people  of  the  Dominion  were  not 
blinded  by  any  of  the  party  feelings  in  which  some 
may  indulge  at  home;  and,  looking  across  the  seas, 
they  see,  as  they  thought,  that  the  cause  of  Britain  is 
the  cause  of  right,  freedom,  and  justice.  They  have 
acted  upon  that  opinion,  and  have  come  forward 
ready  to  serve  in  South  Africa  in  such  great  numbers 
that  many  excellent  men  have,  of  necessity,  to  be  left 
at  home.  Such  an  experience  is  without  parallel,  and 
none  can  recollect  a  similar  case,  where  one  private 
individual  has  come  forward  and  equipped  so  magnifi- 
cent a  body  of  men.  That  is  not,  however,  the  only  act 
for  which  we  ought  to  be  grateful  to  Lord  Strathcona. 

364 


Invitation  to  the  Prince 

He  has  lately  been  the  means  of  inducing  the  Canadian 
Government  to  offer  medals  in  the  schools  of  Britain 
for  proficiency  in  knowledge  concerning  Canada. 
Over  one  thousand  such  medals  have  already  been 
distributed;  they  are  being  most  eagerly  sought,  and 
I  am  sure  that  the  action  of  the  Canadian  Government 
will  be  attended  by  most  excellent  results. 

At  the  Colonial  Institute  Dinner  in  May,  1900, 
Lord  Strathcona  suggested  that  the  Prince  of 
Wales  should  again  visit  Canada:  — 

There  were  many  —  he  amongst  them  — who  looked 
back  with  the  most  pleasurable  feelings  to  the  visit  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales  to  Canada  some  forty  years  ago. 
Canada,  at  that  time,  was  not  a  federation,  not  a 
Dominion,  not  a  nation,  as  it  is  to-day,  and  he  was 
sure  that,  should  His  Royal  Highness  go  there  in  the 
near  future,  he  would  find  a  people  not  less  loyal  than 
they  were  nearly  half  a  century  ago. 

It  was  true  [he  continued],  that  in  Canada  some 
sixty  years  ago  there  was  what  was  called  an  insur- 
rection ;  but  the  condition  of  the  Colonies  in  those  days 
was  very  different  from  what  it  is  now.  The  Colonial 
Office  is  very  different  to-day  from  what  it  was  then, 
when  they  imagined  they  knew  a  great  deal  more 
about  what  was  good  for  those  outlandish  places  called 
Colonies  than  the  Colonies  themselves.  Now  the  Col- 
onies felt  that  in  the  Mother  Country  they  had  a 
strong  friend,  while  at  the  head  of  the  Colonial  Office 
was  a  statesman  most  anxious  at  all  tunes  to  do  every- 
thing that  was  in  the  best  interests  of  the  Colonies. 
He  could  only  state  that  nowhere  in  the  United  King- 
dom could  they  surpass  the  loyal  reception  which  would 
be  given  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  or  any  other  member 

365 


Lord  Strathcona 

of  the  Royal  Family  should  they  visit  the  Dominion. 
Let  us  hope  that  this  suggestion,  which  is  as  yet  in  "  the 
air,"  will  come  to  pass,  and  that  we  shall  have  a  visit. 

Hearty  cheers  greeted  Lord  Strathcona's  con- 
cluding expression  of  the  joy  all  had  felt  at  the 
escape  of  the  Prince  from  the  hand  of  an  assassin. 
The  visit  of  the  Heir  Apparent  (now  George  V) 
took  place  in  the  following  year. 

Referring  elsewhere  to  Canada's  contribution  to 
the  South  African  Army,  Senator  Drummond  said  : 

To  ourselves  it  is  a  source  of  pride  that  among  them 
is  a  corps  of  mounted  infantry  consisting  of  589  men, 
equipped,  armed,  and  carried  to  the  seat  of  war 
through  the  princely  liberality  of  the  president  of  this 
bank.  Heavy  as  is  the  price  exacted  in  war  for  any 
benefits  —  not  in  treasure  alone,  for  that  is  secondary, 
but  in  blood  —  Canadians  now  occupy  a  place  among 
the  nations  not  hitherto  accorded  to  them,  and  can 
realize  as  never  before  that  their  country  is  part  and 
parcel  of  the  Empire,  while  the  more  distant  shore 
where  our  flag  flies  is  but  a  portion  of  our  heritage. 

That  summer,  in  South  Africa,  the  "Strathcona's 
Horse"  performed  much  useful  service.  When,  in 
October,  Lord  Dundonald  parted  from  them  on  his 
return  to  England  he  addressed  them  thus:  — 

I  have  never  served  with  a  nobler,  braver,  or  more 
serviceable  body  of  men.  It  shall  be  my  privilege 
when  I  meet  my  friend  Lord  Strathcona,  to  tell  him 
what  a  magnificent  body  of  men  bear  his  name. 

Later,  as  they  entrained  for  Pretoria,  Lord  Dun- 
donald stated  that  he  was  very  proud  of  "Strath- 

366 


Strathcona's  Horse  praised 

cona's  Horse."  From  the  time  the  regiment  joined 
the  brigade  under  his  command  it  had  covered  a 
great  deal  of  ground  and  had  undertaken  and  suc- 
cessfully carried  out  many  dangerous  duties. 

Major-General  Barton  also  wrote  their  com- 
mander in  November:  — 

I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the  practical  and  effec- 
tive manner  in  which  the  duty  assigned  to  your  splendid 
corps  was  carried  out  by  yourself  and  all  under  your 
command  yesterday,  and  I  have  specially  mentioned 
this  in  my  report  to  the  Field  Marshal  Commanding- 
in-Chief .  I  only  regret  that  circumstances  prevented 
my  supporting  your  movements  by  advancing  further 
with  the  main  body. 

Lord  Kitchener,  Commander-in-Chief  in  South 
Africa,  bidding  farewell  to  the  regiment  on  Jan- 
uary 15,  1901,  publicly  thanked  them  for  their 
services  and  stated  that  they  had  marched  through 
nearly  every  part  of  the  Transvaal  and  Orange 
River  Colony,  that  he  had  never  heard  anything 
but  good  of  the  corps,  and  that  they  would  be 
greatly  pleased  if  he  told  them  of  the  number  of 
letters  he  had  received  from  general  officers  all  over 
the  country  asking  for  "Strathcona's  Horse."  l 

The  regiment  sailed  from  Cape  Town  on  Jan- 
uary 21.  All  hands  had  been  refitted  with  new 
clothing  from  head  to  foot  and  new  hats  sent  out 
by  Lord  Strathcona,  who,  on  their  arrival  in  the 
Thames,  sent  them  a  telegram  of  welcome. 

Subsequently,   His  Majesty  King  Edward  re- 
1  Major-General  S.  B.  Steele,  Reminiscences. 
367 


Lord  Strathcona 

viewed    " Strathcona's    Horse,"    thus    addressing 
them :  — 

Colonel  Steele,  officers,  non-commissioned  officers, 
and  privates,  I  welcome  you  to  these  shores  on  your 
return  from  active  service  in  South  Africa.  I  know  it 
would  have  been  the  ardent  wish  of  my  beloved 
mother,  our  revered  Queen,  to  have  welcomed  you 
also,  but  that  was  not  to  be,  but  be  assured  she 
deeply  appreciated  the  services  you  have  rendered,  as 
I  do. 

It  has  given  me  great  satisfaction  to  inspect  you 
to-day,  and  to  have  presented  you  with  your  war 
medals,  and  also  with  the  King's  colours. 

Be  assured  that  neither  I  nor  the  British  nation  will 
ever  forget  the  valuable  service  you  have  rendered  in 
South  Africa. 

Lord  Strathcona  gave  a  "magnificent  banquet, 
modestly  called  a  luncheon,"  to  the  whole  corps. 
Many  leading  persons  were  present,  including  the 
Earls  of  Derby  and  Aberdeen  (ex-Governors-Gen- 
eral of  Canada),  the  Earl  of  Dundonald,  Major- 
General  Laurie,  M.P.,  Major-General  Hutton,  and 
many  other  officers  of  the  army,  prominent  Colo- 
nial statesmen  and  gentlemen  interested  in  the 
Dominion  and  other  oversea  portions  of  the  Em- 
pire. Lord  Strathcona,  surrounded  by  his  guests, 
received  each  officer  and  private  at  the  entrance  of 
the  banque ting-hall,  and  afterwards  proposed  the 
health  of  the  regiment.  The  occasion  of  his  own 
toast  being  drunk  produced  the  wildest  enthusi- 
asm, the  officers  and  men  springing  to  their  feet 
and  making  the  roof  echo  with  their  ardent  cheer- 

368 


War  Office  Alacrity 

ing.  The  names  of  Sir  Redvers  Buller  and  Lord 
Dundonald,  who,  in  the  absence  of  Lord  Roberts, 
took  his  place  on  Lord  Strathcona's  left,  were  also 
heartily  received,  the  whole  corps  rising  to  honour 
them. 

Before  their  return  to  Canada,  Lord  Strathcona 
gave  a  further  banquet  to  the  officers  of  the  regi- 
ment. He  received  all  the  guests  in  the  great  draw- 
ing-room of  the  Savoy  Hotel.  Colonel  Steele  had 
the  place  of  honour  on  his  right,  Earl  Roberts,  the 
Lord  Mayor  of  London,  Lord  Lansdowne,  Secre- 
tary of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  Mr.  Joseph  Cham- 
berlain, Sir  Redvers  Buller,  Lord  William  Seymour, 
Sir  James  Ferguson,  and  about  thirty  others  were 
present. 

Colonel  Steele  mentions  a  typical  incident.  He 
and  other  officers  were  returning  to  the  Govern- 
ment for  further  service. 

He  [Lord  Strathcona]  went  with  us  to  obtain  pas- 
sages from  the  War  Office,  where  it  was  somewhat 
difficult  to  get  the  officers  to  understand  that,  as  we 
were  commissioned  officers  of  a  force  which  was  paid 
by  the  British  Government  and  were  going  out  to 
the  War,  we  were  entitled  to  our  passages  by  military 
transports.  From  the  War  Office  back  and  forth  to  the 
Colonial  Office  we  went;  but  Lord  Strathcona  event- 
ually put  matters  right,  and  it  was  arranged  that  we 
should  sail  on  the  transport  Makool,  the  same  ship 
which  had  taken  Strathcona's  Horse  to  Kosi  Bay. 

So  delighted  was  Lord  Strathcona  with  the  ex- 
ploits of  the  Canadians  that  he  cabled  out  the  bulk 

369 


Lord  Strathcona 

of  the  leading  article  in  the  Times  to  Sir  Wilfrid 
Laurier:  — 

All  classes  of  our  troops,  in  success  as  in  defeat,  have 
displayed  splendid  qualities,  but  if  anything  could 
enhance  the  intense  and  widespread  satisfaction  at 
their  achievement,  it  is  the  knowledge  that  the  Cana- 
dian Contingent  played  a  principal  part  in  the  move- 
ments which  forced  the  stubborn  Boer  leader  to  own 
that  he  was  beaten. 

Lord  Strathcona  added  that  the  military  arti- 
cle in  the  same  journal  also  stated :  — 

It  is  peculiarly  interesting  to  note  that  the  "coup  de 
grace"  to  General  Cronje's  force  was  delivered  by  the 
Canadian  regiment,  whose  action  at  an  early  hour  of 
yesterday  is  described  by  Lord  Roberts  as  a  gallant 
deed  worthy  of  our  Colonial  comrades.  The  fact  that 
the  force  voluntarily  offered  by  the  great  self-govern- 
ing Colony  of  Canada  had  greatly  distinguished  itself 
in  another  continent  is  one  which  will  not  be  forgotten. 
The  gallant  Canadians  who  fell  yesterday  have  helped 
draw  closer  the  bonds  which  unite  our  Empire. 

Nevertheless,  he  was  much  concerned  over  the 
circumstance  of  the  short  enlistment  of  the  Cana- 
dian contingents,  —  a  single  year  only,  —  and 
his  impatience  was  great  when  six  out  of  eight 
companies  refused  to  accede  to  Lord  Roberts's 
request  to  prolong  their  term  of  service  by  a  few 
months.  Had  it  been  possible  he  would  himself  have 
wished  to  interfere  and  appeal  to  the  men :  but  re- 
flection showed  that  it  was  best  not  to  call  too  much 
attention  to  the  incident.  He  contented  himself 

370 


Imperial  Defence 


with  explaining  the  matter  to  the  Commander-in- 
Chief :  — 

To  Field  Marshal  Earl  Roberts 

February  loth,  1901. 

We  in  Canada  have  been  so  long  isolated  and  ab- 
sorbed in  our  own  material  development  that  it  will 
take  us  some  time  to  recognize  fully  the  gravity  of 
Imperial  defence  outside  our  own  borders,  But  the 
temper  of  the  Canadian  people  is  elastic  and  will  be 
found  to  fit  the  situation  should  it  ever  arise  in  the 
future.  They  will  only  need  to  be  impressed  by  its 
gravity  to  come  forward  to  meet  it.  This  war,  if  only 
a  beginning,  has,  I  trust,  proved  that. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE   GROWING  TIME 
1903-1909 

LORD  STRATHCONA  may  well  have  felt  embar- 
rassed by  the  overwhelming  character  of  his  recep- 
tion when  he  visited  Montreal  in  the  summer  of 
1900.  On  his  arrival  at  the  station  he  was  greeted 
by  a  deputation  of  prominent  citizens  and  twelve 
hundred  students  of  McGill  University,  whose  ex- 
uberance was  no  whit  dampened  by  a  steady  down- 
pour of  rain.  The  interval  of  waiting  for  the  Chan- 
cellor was  employed  in  pulling  down  tradesmen's 
signs,  upon  which  the  magic  name  "Strathcona" 
was  then  chalked.  A  baker's  cart  was  "held  up" 
and  deprived  of  its  load  of  loaves,  which,  soon  ren- 
dered sodden  by  the  rain,  made  excellent  missiles 
for  those  whose  enthusiasm  seemed  to  require  a 
stimulus.  When  at  last  the  train  steamed  into  the 
station,  the  deputation,  headed  by  Sir  William  Van 
Home,  boarded  the  car  and  welcomed  Lord  Strath- 
cona at  his  homecoming.  "  Canada  does  not  forget 
such  lifelong  services  as  Lord  Strathcona  has  ren- 
dered." That  inscribed  on  a  banner  was  the  note 
of  the  occasion.  The  McGill  students,  shouting 
and  cheering,  waving  their  hats,  called  for  three 
cheers  for  Lord  Strathcona,  and  thousands  took 
up  the  chorus,  "For  he's  a  jolly  good  fellow." 

When  the  object  of  their  demonstration  de- 
scended the  steps  of  the  station  a  mighty  roar  went 

372 


Reception  in  Montreal 

up,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  he  made  his  way  to 
his  carriage,  from  which  the  horses  had  been  with- 
drawn and  to  which  ropes  were  attached  by  the 
students.  Torrents  were  descending,  but  the  wel- 
coming multitude,  wet  and  covered  with  mud,  with 
broken  umbrellas,  and  boots  and  trousers  past 
recognition,  evinced  no  diminution  of  ardour. 
They  emitted  the  college  yell ;  again  and  again  they 
called  for  cheers  for  Strathcona  and  Strathcona's 
Horse,  and  while  the  bells  of  St.  George's  Church 
loudly  pealed  a  welcome,  the  carriage  was  drawn 
along  to  Lord  Strathcona's  residence  in  Dorchester 
Street. 

Arrived  at  his  residence,  and  touched  at  such 
evidences  of  a  popularity  his  prime  had  never 
known,  Lord  Strathcona  addressed  the  students:  — 

I  feel  deeply  [he  said]  the  kindness  of  your  recep- 
tion and  its  heartiness,  and  I  hope  that  I  shall  have  the 
opportunity  of  meeting  you  all  during  my  short  stay 
here.  The  reception  which  you  have  given  me  to-day 
will  remain  vividly  imprinted  on  my  memory  during 
the  remainder  of  my  life,  however  long  or  short  that 
may  be.  I  cannot  in  reason  expect  that  many  more 
years  remain  to  me. 

At  this  point  a  crowd  of  students  interrupted  his 
remarks  by  giving  him  three  cheers,  and  before  the 
sound  of  this  had  died  away,  some  one  in  the  crowd 
asked,  "What's  the  matter  with  Strathcona's 
Horse?"  to  which  the  whole  crowd  duly  responded. 
Lord  Strathcona  then  said :  — 

Yes,  gentlemen,  they  are  "all  right."  They  have 
done,  and  will  do,  their  duty  like  all  the  soldiers  of 

373 


Lord  Strathcona 

the  Queen,  no  matter  from  what  part  of  the  Empire 
they  are  gathered,  and  in  the  same  spirit  McGill  will 
do  its  duty. 

Loud  cheers  greeted  the  conclusion  of  this 
speech. 

He  later  told  the  Montrealers:  — 

Imperialism  is  not  confined  to  any  one  class  in  Eng- 
land now;  it  pervades  the  whole  nation.  It  is  no 
longer  a  sentiment  of  any  one  district.  In  the  parts  of 
the  country  where  the  labouring  classes  toil,  there  you 
find  the  feeling  very,  very  strong. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  is  essentially  a  Colonial  Minister. 
He  has  done  more  for  the  Colonies,  I  think,  than  any 
Minister  preceding  him  in  the  Colonial  Office.  He  is  a 
man  of  wonderful  energy  and  vigour,  determined  to 
strengthen  the  connection  between  the  Mother  Coun- 
try and  her  Colonies.  The  policy  of  a  closer  union  has 
become  astonishingly  popular  on  the  other  side.  It  is 
not  now  momentary  or  evanescent.  The  war  in  South 
Africa  has  stirred  the  people  in  a  wonderful  manner. 
The  country  has  seized  every  opportunity  of  showing 
its  interest  for,  and  sympathy  with,  the  outlying  mem- 
bers of  the  Empire. 

This  feeling  [he  predicted]  was  sure  to  be  lasting, 
simply  because  it  was  entirely  voluntary.  It  is  a  free 
government  in  Canada  as  in  England.  If  Canadians 
had  felt  that  they  were  compelled  to  aid  England  in 
the  recent  struggle,  some  of  them  might  possibly  have 
been  disposed  to  rebel.  The  assistance  tendered  to 
the  Empire  was  not  compulsory;  no  such  feelings  were 
engendered.  What  is  this  seeking  after  a  closer  bond 
between  the  Colonies  and  the  Mother  Country,  after 
all?  Is  it  not  a  common  necessity?  The  Mother  Land 
is  necessary  to  the  Colonies  and_the  Colonies  are 

374 


Federation  not  to  be  forced 

necessary  to  the  Mother  Country.  A  close  bond  of 
Union  is  our  strength  —  it  is  her  strength !  Think  of 
its  effect  on  the  other  nations!  It  is  a  course  with 
mutual  advantages  to  the  Colonies  and  to  England. 

As  to  the  desire  for  closer  union  leading  to  some 
formal  arrangement  by  which  the  Colonies  would  be 
represented  in  the  Imperial  Councils,  I  do  not  think 
this  question  should  be  forced.  Should  the  trend  of 
feeling  eventually  run  in  that  way,  means  will  be 
found  to  devise  a  working  arrangement.  At  present  I 
would  not  urge  it.  A  common  impulse  is  now  felt  in  all 
parts  of  the  Empire.  When  the  Empire  is  engaged  in 
war,  all  the  component  parts  feel  that  they,  too,  are 
concerned.  There  is  a  oneness  of  feeling  which  could 
not  have  been  dreamt  of  before  the  Transvaal  War. 
I  would  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  force  this  sentiment  into 
legal  or  binding  shape.  Canada  has  gained  greatly  by 
her  action  in  sending  out  the  contingents.  She  is  known 
now  in  England  in  a  way  which  would  have  been 
simply  impossible  some  years  ago.  It  is  felt  by  people 
in  England  that  they  may  invest  their  capital  in 
Canada  with  as  much  security  as  they  can  at  home. 
Canada  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  an  integral  part 
of  the  Empire,  sharing  in  the  Imperial  thought. 

Speaking  of  the  conduct  of  Strathcona's  Horse, 
Lord  Strath cona  said :  — 

There  is  another  thing  of  which  I  am  very  proud, 
and  that  is  the  fine  stand  our  Canadian  horses  took  in 
the  hardships  of  the  contest.  I  have  it  on  excellent  au- 
thority and  from  many  sources  that  the  horses  which 
were  shipped  from  the  Canadian  North-West  to  South 
Africa  have  proved  themselves  to  be  the  finest  class  of 
horses  used  there  by  the  British  Army. 

375 


Lord  Strathcona 

Everywhere  he  went  and  every  day  of  his  brief 
sojourn  in  Canada,  the  heartiness  of  his  reception 
was  the  same. 

The  Toronto  Board  of  Trade  gave  him  a  banquet 
at  which  four  hundred  representative  persons  of 
the  Province  of  Ontario  were  present.  "The  gather- 
ing," commented  the  Globe,  "was  a  great  tribute  to 
the  philanthropic  nobleman  who  had  done  so  much 
for  Canada  and  the  Empire." 

We  are  told  that,  on  his  rising  to  speak,  the 
guests  and  spectators  in  the  galleries  cheered  for 
several  minutes,  the  band  playing  "  Rule  Britannia." 
The  principal  theme  of  his  speech  was  the  bond  of 
union  between  the  Mother  Land  and  her  Colonies, 
now  cemented  by  the  blood  their  sons  shed  together 
on  the  soil  of  South  Africa. 

When  we  speak  of  a  united  Empire,  we  speak  of  the 
Dominion  and  the  other  Colonies  coming  closer  to- 
gether. May  we  not  express  a  hope,  too,  that  in  our 
Dominion  there  may  be  less  provincialism  amongst 
us?  Whether  in  Ontario,  Quebec,  the  Maritime  Prov- 
inces, the  Prairie  Provinces,  or  in  that  great  Western 
country  which  was  once  called  a  sea  of  mountains,  and 
which  they  now  know  to  be  a  rich  sea  of  mountains, 
they  ought  to  feel  in  all  their  legislation  they  desired 
to  come  together  in  everything  that  was  good  for  the 
Dominion  at  large. 

A  few  years  ago  people  from  Canada  and  the 
Colonies  were  regarded  in  England  as  merely  those  to 
whom  it  was  well  to  be  civil  —  very  worthy  back- 
woods people,  but  hardly  worth  while  crossing  the 
sea  to  recognize.  We  know  that  our  neighbours  of  the 

376 


« Worthy  Backwoods  People" 

United  States  were  thought  highly  of,  and  seen  every- 
where in  society,  but  was  it  so  of  ourselves  from 
Canada  and  the  other  Colonies,  as  we  had  a  right  to 
expect?  How  is  it  to-day?  To  be  a  Canadian  citizen 
or  a  citizen  of  any  other  Colony  is  to  have  the  warm- 
est good  wishes  of  all  the  best  people  of  the  Mother 
Country. 

The  feeling  that  has  gone  forth  toward  the  Colonies 
is  not,  I  feel  assured,  an  evanescent  one.  While  we  are 
the  first  among  the  nations  within  the  Empire,  we  are 
glad  to  know  that  there  is  another  true-born  nation 
which  is  to  take  its  place  alongside  of  Canada  in  a  very 
few  weeks.  The  grandson  of  Her  Gracious  Majesty  the 
Queen  goes  there  to  assist  in  opening  the  new  Parlia- 
ment, and  I  trust  that  the  occasion  will  not  be  lost  of 
having  that  same  member  of  the  Royal  Family,  as 
representing  Her  Majesty,  come  also  amongst  us  on 
his  return. 

We  should  now  be  regarded  as  one  people,  one  great 
Empire  of  Englishmen,  no  matter  what  our  mother 
tongue  may  be.  There  is  one  agency  which  I  trust 
within  a  very  short  time  we  shall  see  as  an  estab- 
lished fact,  and  which  I  believe  will  be  a  factor  in  that 
direction.  I  feel  we  may  be  confident  that  we  shall,  at 
the  close  of  1902,  have  cable  communication  direct 
from  Canada  to  Australia.  While  we  have  but  little 
business  connection  with  the  Southern  Federation, 
doubtless  it  will  go  on  increasing  to  great  proportions, 
as  there  is  much  in  each  country  that  the  other 
needs. 

To  the  Warden  of  Victoria  College  he  had  pre- 
viously written :  — 


377 


Lord  Strathcona 

To  Miss  Hilda  Oakeley 

5th  May,  1900. 

It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  learn  from  you 
of  the  excellent  progress  being  made  in  the  Royal 
Victoria  College  for  Women,  and  perhaps  it  is  an 
advantage  that  for  the  first  year  there  should  be  only 
a  few  resident  students. 

You  correctly  interpret  my  wishes  with  regard  to 
the  College  when  you  say  that  I  had  mainly  in  view  in 
establishing  it,  "that  the  more  studious  students  who 
are  taking  the  strict  University  course  should  work 
under  the  happy  conditions  of  home  life  with  those  who 
share  their  ideals  and  interests."  Our  object  ought 
certainly  to  be  to  induce  as  many  of  the  Canadian 
young  women  as  can  be  properly  accommodated  to 
take  the  entire  course  as  under-graduates,  while  at 
the  same  time  finding  room,  as  far  as  practicable, 
for  those  who  are  only  occasional  students. 

It  was  a  great  regret  to  me  that  I  was  unable  to 
visit  Canada  this  last  winter  and  to  be  present  during 
your  session,  but  the  doctors  interposed  their  veto  on 
my  going  out  while  I  was  not  altogether  strong  and  in 
the  best  of  health.  I  am  still  very  hopeful  of  being  in 
Canada  sometime  early  in  the  summer,  and  look  for- 
ward as  well  to  be  there  again  in  the  autumn  or  early 
winter  during  your  second  session. 

It  was  during  this  visit  that  he  formally  opened, 
in  November,  the  College  he  had  founded.  Lord 
and  Lady  Minto  were  present,  as  well  as  hun- 
dreds of  Montreal  citizens  and  many  students  of 
McGill  University,  at  a  reception  which  exceeded 

378 


Victoria  College  Opening 

in  size  and  magnificence  any  private  entertainment 
previously  given  in  Montreal,  and  even  surpassed 
that  given  by  Lord  and  Lady  Strathcona  at  the 
Imperial  Institute,  London,  in  the  summer  of  1897, 
at  which  all  the  Canadians  then  in  the  English 
metropolis  were  invited  guests.  On  this  occasion 
Lady  Minto  unveiled  the  statue  of  the  Queen,  exe- 
cuted by  Princess  Louise,  Duchess  of  Argyll,  at  the 
entrance  to  the  college.  Miss  Oakeley,  as  Warden 
of  the  college,  then  presented  Her  Excellency  with 
an  immense  bouquet  of  roses,  tied  with  the  college 
ribbon. 

In  the  year  following,  Lord  Strathcona  wrote  to 
Miss  Oakeley:  — 

May  25th,  1901. 

The  account  you  are  able  to  give  of  the  Royal 
Victoria  College  and  those  who  have  the  good  fortune 
to  be  under  your  care  in  it,  shows  indeed  a  satisfactory 
record  for  the  Session  which  has  just  closed,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  that  as  time  goes  on,  the  College  will  be  in- 
creasingly useful  to  the  people  of  Montreal  and  Canada 
in  training  up  well-educated  gentlewomen. 

October  28th,  1901. 

It  is  only  now,  too,  I  am  able  to  send  a  reply  to  the 
kind  letter  of  the  "Delta  Sigma"  Society,  asking  if  I 
would  give  an  address  —  the  annual  lecture  —  before 
their  literary  society,  a  request  which  at  their  sugges- 
tion is  enforced  in  your  note.  Any  such  effort  on  my 
part  would,  I  fear,  be  a  sad  disappointment,  as  I  cannot 
hope  to  do  justice  to  what  ought  to  be  the  standard  of 
such  an  occasion,  but  entirely  apart  from  this,  fearing 
greatly,  owing  to  my  engagements,  I  could  not  name 

379 


Lord  Strathcona 

an  evening  when  I  could  be  present  for  the  purpose. 
This,  pray  believe  me,  is  a  sincere  regret  to  me,  and 
let  me  add  how  proud  I  am  to  have  my  name,  both 
Christian  and  surname,  so  pleasantly  associated  with 
the  Delta  Sigma  Society. 

In  another  speech  to  the  citizens  of  Montreal, 
Lord  Strathcona  foreshadowed  his  return  to  Canada 
"  upon  the  completion  of  important  works  in  which 
he  had  been  much  interested,"  which  were  taken 
to  mean  the  Pacific  cable  and  the  establishment 
of  a  fast  Atlantic  service.  Once  again  he  reminded 
his  hearers  that  "  the  action  of  the  Colonies  in  send- 
ing troops  to  South  Africa  was  not  merely  a  matter 
of  patriotism,  for  the  Colonies,"  he  said,  "are  as 
necessary  to  Britain  as  Britain  is  to  the  Colonies." 

One  of  the  first  of  his  duties  on  his  return  to 
England  was  to  take  part  in  the  national  welcome 
of  the  war-worn  body  of  Canadian  troops  returning 
from  South  Africa  under  Colonel  Otter's  command. 
A  great  reception  was  given  at  the  Imperial  Insti- 
tute in  their  honour.  Addressing  the  assembled 
company,  he  said :  — 

The  citizen  soldiers  of  Canada  had  been  received  as 
brothers  not  only  by  the  Queen's  soldiers  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  but  by  the  whole  of  London,  repre- 
senting admirably  the  people  of  Great  Britain.  It  was 
needless  to  speak  of  the  different  battles  in  which  these 
citizen  soldiers  had  been  engaged,  for  their  record  was 
well  known.  All  the  Queen's  soldiers  had  done  their 
duty  gallantly  and  well,  those  from  Canada  and  the 
other  Colonies  side  by  side  with  the  rest.  This  had 
been  expected  of  them  by  all  Canadians,  and  they 

380 


Queen  Victoria's  Death 

had  not  been  disappointed.  Colonel  Otter  and  his 
officers  and  men,  and  indeed  the  whole  Canadian 
Contingent,  would  be  the  last  to  say  they  had  done 
better  than  others ;  but  they  only  claimed  to  have  done 
what  they  could  to  conserve  the  honour,  the  dignity, 
and  the  integrity  of  the  Empire.  What  these  troops 
have  done  in  the  past  they  would  be  equally  ready  to 
do  in  the  future,  if  the  need  of  the  Empire  should  arise. 

The  illness  and  death,  on  January  21,  of  the 
universally  beloved  and  revered  Queen  Victoria 
had  profoundly  affected  him.  He  and  Lady 
Strathcona  were  present  in  St.  George's  Chapel, 
Windsor,  at  the  funeral  service,  where  he  was  heard 
to  remark  several  times  to  acquaintances,  "Think 
of  it  —  think  of  it  —  Queen  Victoria  is  dead!" 
To  him  the  event  meant  more  than  to  most.  His 
memory  could  travel  back  to  the  London  of  the  first 
year  of  Victoria's  accession,  when  as  a  fresh-faced 
youth,  with  all  his  career  before  him,  he  had  lin- 
gered in  the  streets  hoping  to  be  "rewarded  by 
the  spectacle  of  Her  Majesty." 

At  a  special  court  of  the  Governors  of  the  Royal 
Scottish  Corporation,  held  in  order  to  pass  a  reso- 
lution of  sorrow  on  the  Queen's  death,  of  sympathy 
with  the  Royal  Family  on  their  bereavement,  and 
congratulation  to  His  Majesty  King  Edward  VII 
on  his  accession  to  the  Throne,  Lord  Strathcona 
attended  with  Lord  Rosebery.  Canada's  High 
Commissioner  seconded  the  resolution,  which  was 
proposed  by  the  ex- Prime  Minister.  He  said:  — 

But  little  is  ever  required  from  one  who  seconds 
Lord  Rosebery.  It  might,  however,  coming  as  he  did 


Lord  Strathcona 

from  an  outlying  portion  of  the  Empire,  be  permitted 
to  him  to  say  a  word  as  to  the  feeling  of  the  Colonies 
on  that  most  sad  occasion. 

If  they  went  back  to  the  commencement  of  the  reign 
of  her  late  Majesty,  they  would  find  in  Canada  symp- 
toms of  disloyalty,  of  race  hatreds,  and  not  everywhere 
the  warmest  possible  homage  to  her  name.  They  had 
different  peoples  there  —  there  were  the  natives,  there 
were  the  French,  and  there  was  not  anywhere  at  that 
time  that  feeling  of  love  for  the  Mother  Country  that 
was  now  so  conspicuous  a  feature  in  our  great  Western 
Dominion.  But  it  was  felt  for  the  first  time  under  the 
beneficent  reign  of  Her  Majesty  that  justice  would  be 
given  to  all.  In  his  Colony,  when  her  sons  visited  the 
Mother  Country,  they  must  see  the  Queen.  He  had 
had  a  very  touching  instance  of  this  quite  recently.  A 
poor  man  had  come  to  him,  stating  that  he  had  come 
home  from  Canada  for  the  express  purpose  of  seeing  the 
"great,  good  mother,"  and  when  he  had  accomplished 
that  he  would  go  back  again.  He  was  enabled  to 
secure  for  this  poor  man  the  privilege  of  seeing  the 
Queen  in  one  of  her  drives.  After  that  this  Canadian 
returned  home  at  once,  and  said  the  wish  of  his  life 
had  been  accomplished. 

At  that  moment,  Canada,  as  well  as  the  other  out- 
lying portions  of  the  Empire,  joined  in  the  sorrows  of 
the  Mother  Country.  And,  likewise,  in  the  United 
States  of  America  it  was  felt  that  a  great  English 
sovereign  had  passed  away,  whose  life  was  full  of  years 
and  honours,  and  who  had  provided  so  bright  an  ex- 
ample to  all.  It  was  not  alone  in  Canada  that  grief 
was  felt,  but  throughout  the  whole  of  that  great  Re- 
public which  was  its  neighbour.  As  to  His  Majesty 
King  Edward  VII,  the  people  of  Canada,  like  all  his 

382 


Glencoe's  Associations 

subjects,  heartily  congratulated  him,  and  hoped  that 
he  might  be  spared  for  many  long  years  to  follow  in  the 
steps  of  his  predecessor.  They  in  Canada  had  a  pro- 
found and  pleasant  recollection  of  his  visit  when  Prince 
of  Wales,  forty  years  before. 

In  April,  before  a  distinguished  audience  at  the 
Imperial  Institute,  he  read  a  paper  on  "Canada 
and  the  Empire."  The  Duke  of  Argyll  in  his  hap- 
piest vein  introduced  the  lecturer.  Everybody,  he 
said,  knew  what  Lord  Strathcona  had  done,  and 
the  Duke,  being  a  Scotsman  himself,  maintained 
that  only  a  Scotsman  could  have  done  what  Lord 
Strathcona  had  done;  and  only  a  Scotsman  who  had 
had  a  long  residence  in  Canada,  benefited  by  her 
air,  her  institutions,  and  by  the  experience  acquired 
on  her  soil.  The  Duke  was  particularly  grateful  to 
Lord  Strathcona  in  that  he  had  become  an  Argyll- 
shire man,  and  had  brightened  with  his  presence  a 
place  which  formerly  had  rather  dismal  associations. 
Glencoe  was  associated  with  the  great  cruelties 
practised  upon  some  of  those  who  were  not  up  to 
what  might  be  called  the  "  Imperial "  ideal  of  their 
time.  The  Duke  pointed  out  how  matters  had 
changed,  and  the  locality  was  now  a  centre  of  light 
and  leading  in  the  Imperial  feelings  of  the  day. 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

LONDON,  2d  May,  1901. 

The  other  day  Mr.  Chamberlain  asked  me  to  see  him 
about  some  matters  which  could  be  better  explained 
verbally  than  in  writing. 

383 


Lord  Strathcona 

First,  he  referred  to  the  National  Monument  to 
Queen  Victoria.  It  was  evident  from  what  he  said 
that  it  would  be  very  gratifying  to  the  King  and  to 
the  Government  here  that  Canada  should  show  an 
interest  in  the  matter,  by  contributing  to  the  fund 
being  raised  for  it,  the  amount  of  the  contribution  being 
of  much  less  consequence  than  the  assurance  that  the 
Dominion  entered  cordially  into  the  idea  of  there  being 
one  grand  memorial  in  London,  joined  in  by  every  part 
of  the  Empire.  I  am  sure  that  your  cooperation  in  this 
will  be  regarded  with  the  greatest  appreciation  here. 

The  other  matter  suggested  is  that  a  certain  moder- 
ate sum  should  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Gov- 
ernor-General to  enable  him  adequately  to  entertain 
the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Cornwall  on  their  visit  to 
Canada.  Indeed,  I  believe  that  Lord  Minto  has  given 
Mr.  Chamberlain  to  understand  that  his  personal 
means  do  not  permit  of  his  doing  what  he  could  wish 
in  this  way. 

About  these  somewhat  delicate  matters  to  deal  with, 
I  write  you  frankly,  as  I  know  you  will  not  mis- 
understand the  spirit  in  which  I  bring  them  to  your 
notice,  and  I  also  feel  sure  you  would  like  to  have 
placed  before  you  what  is  passing  in  the  minds  of  the 
people  here  on  such  subjects. 

While  I  have  the  pen  in  hand,  let  me  say  that  just 
before  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Cornwall  left  for 
Australia  their  reception  in  Canada  happened  to  come 
up  in  conversation  with  Mr.  Chamberlain,  on  which  I 
said  that  if  quite  agreeable  to  the  King,  and  of  course 
also  to  your  Government,  I  should  be  glad  to  assist 
in  the  welcome  of  the  royal  party  in  Montreal,  to  which 
the  response  was  that  anything  I  might  do  in  that 
respect  would  be  acceptable. 

384 


The  St.  Lawrence  Route 

Please  understand  that  I  do  not  wish  unnecessarily 
to  put  myself  forward,  but  if  you  entirely  concur,  I 
shall  be  pleased  to  go  to  Montreal  in  September  to  aid 
as  best  I  can  either  by  accommodation  and  entertain- 
ment, or  otherwise  in  my  house. 

To  C.  R.  Devlin,  M.P. 

5th  August,  1901. 

It  is  quite  unnecessary  to  take  any  notice  of  Mr. 
Henri  Bourassa's  statement,  a  sufficient  answer  to  it 
being  that  on  his  resolution  in  condemnation  of  the 
course  of  the  Government  in  connection  with  the 
South  African  War,  he  had  only  three  supporters  in  a 
full  House.  As  regards  the  action  of  the  Contingent 
from  Canada,  their  deeds  speak  fully  for  the  admirable 
way  in  which  they  conducted  themselves,  along  with 
their  fellow-soldiers  from  the  Mother  Country  and 
other  parts  of  the  Empire. 

All  of  this  year,  as  of  preceding  ones,  he  had  been 
agitating  the  scheme  of  a  fast  Atlantic  steamship 
service.  As  for  that  other  matter  of  the  Pacific 
cable,  it  had  happily  reached  finality.  The  cable 
was  being  rapidly  laid  and  would  soon  be  one  of 
the  Empire's  assets.  But  the  line  of  twenty-five- 
knot  steamers  was  still  as  far  away  as  ever.  Lord 
Strathcona  said :  — 

The  Canadian  Government  realizes  fully  that  the 
St.  Lawrence  route  should  be  made  as  safe  as  human 
foresight  can  make  it.  The  insurance  rate  for  Canada 
is  from  seven  and  one  half  to  eight  guineas,  as  against 
three  to  New  York,  Boston,  and  other  United  States 
ports.  Thus  we  are  heavily  handicapped,  and  the 

385 


Lord  Strathcona 

Government  should,  and  I  am  convinced  will,  do  all  in 
its  power  to  improve  the  route  if  this  is  possible  and  if 
such  drawbacks  exist.  There  is  no  sentiment  in  this 
question  of  insurance;  it  is  purely  a  business  matter. 
Competition  is  too  keen  nowadays  for  any  sentiment 
to  intervene,  and  if  it  were  safe  to  take  lower  rates,  you 
may  be  sure  there  would  be  plenty  of  offers. 

If  the  Government  sees  its  way  to  grant  a  subsidy 
which  would  meet  the  views  of  Sir  Christopher  Fur- 
ness,  I  have  no  doubt  he  would  be  willing  to  tender 
for  the  service.  He  is  firmly  convinced  that  only  a 
first-class  service  will  be  of  any  use;  a  fast  service  —  a 
service  that  can  compete  with  the  United  States  lines. 

On  the  question  of  a  Canadian  terminal  I  cannot 
but  think  that  the  port  must  be  the  one  giving  the 
shortest  sea  passage  from  land  to  land,  and  I  should 
think  some  point  in  Cape  Breton  is  the  place,  if  it 
affords  good  harbour  accommodation,  and  where  pas- 
sengers, perishable  and  certain  other  kinds  of  freight, 
can  be  taken  on  board.  That  is  the  only  way  we  can 
ever  secure  a  thoroughly  good,  efficient,  and  up-to-date 
service. 

I  have  always  taken  a  very  great  interest  in  this 
question;  I  have  been  working  at  it  for  years,  and  I 
have  always  maintained  that  it  was  a  necessary  adjunct 
wherewith  to  maintain  the  reputation  of  our  trans- 
continental route  to  the  east.  The  Canadian  Pacific 
are  taking  steps  to  accelerate  the  speed  of  their  Pacific 
steamers,  and  we  must  have  a  fast  service  on  the 
Atlantic. 

Highly  did  he  appreciate  the  distinction  when  in 
October,  1902,  the  honorary  degree  of  D.C.L.  was 
conferred  on  him  by  the  University  of  Oxford,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  Bodley  Tercentenary. 

386 


The  Tariff  Reform  Movement 

The  launching  by  Mr.  Chamberlain  of  his  great 
scheme  of  tariff  reform  for  the  United  Kingdom 
caused  Lord  Strathcona  the  greatest  satisfaction. 
"Although,"  he  told  the  Colonial  Secretary, "  I  can- 
not from  my  position  publicly  support  you,  nor 
even  hint  in  public  here  at  my  sentiments,  you  know 
what  those  sentiments  are." 

He  held  the  view  strongly  that  free  trade  in 
England  was  building  up  the  prosperity  of  Ger- 
many and  other  nations  and  retarding,  and  perhaps 
forever  preventing,  the  commercial  unity,  and 
therefore  the  real  unity,  of  the  British  Empire. 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

May  i6th,  1903. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  made  a  remarkable  speech  at 
Birmingham  and  the  report  of  it,  as  given  in  the  Times 
this  morning,  I  enclose  with  this,  also  a  report  of  Mr. 
Balfour's  reply  to  a  deputation  which  waited  on  him 
yesterday  on  the  question  of  the  corn  and  flour  duties. 

It  is  very  evident  that  the  people  of  the  United 
Kingdom  are  not  yet  quite  ripe  for  any  measure  of 
protection,  but  there  is  certainly  a  strong  and  growing 
feeling  that  there  ought  to  be  a  preference  to  the 
Colonies. 

A  fortnight  later  he  wrote:  — 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

May  30th,  1903. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  assured  me  that  should  pressure 
to  impose  duty  on  flour  be  irresistible,  he  will  insist  on 
drawback  for  Canada. 

387 


Lord  Strathcona 

He  thought  it  just  possible  that  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  might  have  to  give  way  to  the  insistence 
for  a  duty  on  flour,  but  he  very  decidedly  said  that  if 
so,  Canada  must  be  exempt. 

I  have  since  had  some  conversation  with  him  on 
"the  new  departure,"  and  I  have  sent  you  the  text  of 
his  speeches  and  all  pamphlets  on  the  subject  which 
have  appeared  in  the  principal  London  papers,  so  need 
not  here  trouble  you  as  to  anything  further  about  it, 
than  to  say  that  Mr.  Chamberlain  has  evidently  come 
to  regard  the  position  from  your  point  of  view,  that  it 
is  the  wish  of  the  Imperial  Government  to  formulate 
its  own  policy  and  then  to  approach  the  Colonies  on 
the  subject. 

At  the  annual  Dominion  Day  Banquet,  he 
said :  — 

In  a  very  short  time  Canada  would  be  able  to  pro- 
vide every  pound  of  breadstuffs  required  in  this  coun- 
try, and  with  a  strong  navy  the  Mother  Country  would 
be  proof  against  the  pinch  of  necessity.  Whilst  Canada 
has  been  glad  to  give  a  preference  to  the  Mother  Country 
there  was  at  present  a  good  deal  in  the  air  regarding 
preferential  relations  within  the  Empire.  Many  who 
had  been  working  in  the  past  for  that  end  now  saw 
a  gleam  of  sunshine  before  them,  and  he  hoped  such  a 
result  would  be  obtained  without  depriving  themselves 
of  their  trade  with  foreign  countries.  Was  there  any 
reason  why  in  their  domestic  affairs  they  should  not 
be  one  great  family  throughout  the  British  Empire? 
Surely  it  was  only  reasonable  that  the  different  parts  of 
that  Empire  should  exhibit  a  preferential  feeling  to- 
ward each  other.  They  were  all  proud  of  that  great 
statesman  who  had  done  so  much  for  the  Colonies  — 

388 


American  Resentment  questioned 

he  had  the  courage  of  his  convictions.  Was  it  proposed 
that  they  should  stumble  at  once  into  something  very 
different  from  what  they  had  now?  Was  it  not  asked 
that  they  should  consider  the  situation  carefully,  and 
then  do  what  was  thought  best  for  the  whole  of  the 
King's  dominions?  In  Canada  they  had  no  fear  of  the 
outcome  of  the  enquiry,  but  whatever  happened  the 
loyalty  of  the  Dominion  would  remain  undisturbed. 

In  conclusion,  the  Chairman  mentioned  that 
during  the  last  ten  months  104,000  people  had 
entered  Canada,  "a  considerable  proportion  of 
them  being  good  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
who  had  now  gone  to  help  build  up  the  Empire,  and 
be  as  loyal  subjects  of  the  King  as  any  others." 

When  some  one  suggested  to  him  that  there 
might  be  some  resentment  in  America  at  any  pref- 
erential treatment  of  Canada  —  especially  if  Ameri- 
can industries  suffered  thereby,  he  asked :  — 

Why  should  there  be  any  resentment?  Americans 
are  business  men.  Between  their  own  States  there 
exists  an  arrangement  for  the  most  complete  mutual 
benefit,  while  they  interpose  a  tariff  against  the  out- 
side world.  Why  should  they  resent  the  establishment 
between  the  States  of  Greater  Britain  of  a  mutually 
benefiting  arrangement?  Or  why  should  they  resent 
the  withdrawal  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  of  advan- 
tages which  she  has  voluntarily  given  them  if  she  does 
so  in  pursuit  of  a  policy  of  advantage  to  the  constitu- 
ent parts  of  her  Empire?  We  do  not  resent  any  part  of 
the  domestic  policy  of  the  United  States.  Why  should 
her  citizens,  as  business  men,  resent  any  change  in  our 
domestic  policy? 

389 


Lord  Strathcona 

Was  not  Canada  herself  apprehensive  of  the  results 
of  a  change  from  her  present  conditions?  Did  not  the 
Government  believe,  for  instance,  that  the  disturbance 
of  fiscal  relations  with  the  United  States  might  result  in 
the  aggravation  of  friction  in  questions  of  policy,  such, 
for  example,  as  the  Alaskan  Boundary  Question?  In 
short,  was  there  not  a  feeling  in  Canada  that  any 
change  might  be  a  change  for  the  worse,  and  that  it 
would  be  better  to  leave  matters  alone? 

To  these  questions  Lord  Strathcona  replied  that 
he  did  not  believe  in  that  expression  as  the  feel- 
ing of  Canada.  "I  do  believe  that  throughout 
the  Dominion  there  exists,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
greatest  confidence  in  the  statesman  who  is  now  at 
the  Colonial  Office.  And  I  think  that  Canada 
believes  in  him,  and  trusts  to  his  judgment  and 
ability." 

During  Lord  Strathcona's  annual  absence  in 
September  of  this  year  Sir  Walter  Peace,  Agent- 
General  for  Natal,  suggested  that  the  representa- 
tives of  the  self-governing  Colonies  should  unite  in 
tendering  Mr.  Chamberlain  an  official  banquet  on 
his  retirement.  In  this  he  wished  Canada  to  take 
the  initial  steps.  If  Canada  approved,  Sir  Wilfrid 
Laurier  would  be  asked  to  cable  the  various 
Colonies  to  instruct  their  representatives  to  co- 
operate. 

From  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

The  Canadian  Government  continues  firm  in  the 
conviction  that  preferential  trade  on  the  lines  laid 
down  at  the  Colonial  Conference  last  year  is  the  best 

390 


Mr.  Chamberlain's  Retirement 

policy  in  the  interest  of  the  British  Empire  and  we 
warmly  recognize  and  appreciate  Mr.  Chamberlain's 
services  as  Colonial  Secretary,  especially  his  endorse- 
ment of  that  policy.  At  the  same  time  we  are  strongly 
of  opinion  that  the  proposed  demonstration  would  be 
ignoring  His  Majesty's  advisers  at  this  moment  as 
appearing  to  take  sides  in  what  has  unfortunately  be- 
come a  party  question  in  England  and  a  crisis  which  is 
now  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  British  elector- 
ate. 

This  seemed  sound  doctrine  and  practice.  Never- 
theless, Lord  Strathcona  did  not  fail  to  avail  him- 
self of  this  and  every  opportunity  to  express  pub- 
licly his  appreciation  of  the  services  of  the  retiring 
minister. 

It  was  no  disparagement  to  his  predecessors  to  say 
that  he  had  done  more  than  any  man  to  promote 
Imperial  unity  and  the  development  of  the  Empire. 
During  the  term  of  his  office  many  events  of  impor- 
tance bearing  upon  the  Colonies  and  the  Empire  had 
taken  place.  I  would  refer  to  the  Conferences  of  1897 
and  1902,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  learn  that  such  gather- 
ings were  likely  to  be  held  in  the  future. 

I  would  also  point  to  the  Federation '  of  Australia, 
the  introduction  of  preferential  tariffs  in  Canada  and 
South  Africa  in  favour  of  British  imports,  denuncia- 
tion of  the  German  and  Belgian  treaties,  the  laying  of 
the  Pacific  cable,  the  establishment  of  penny  postage 
within  the  greater  portion  of  the  Empire,  the  abolition 
of  the  sugar  bounties,  the  inclusion  of  Colonial  stock 
among  trustees'  securities,  and  the  visit  to  South 
Africa  —  a  precedent  which  we  hoped  would  be 
widely  followed  in  the  future.  All  these  constituted 

39i 


Lord  Strathcona 

a  record  of  which  he  and  the  Government  might  well 
be  proud.  He  has  always  been  most  considerate  and 
most  appreciative  in  regard  to  all  matters  affecting 
our  Dominion  of  Canada. 

He  repeated  these  sentiments  on  several  other 
occasions,  notably  in  February,  1904,  when  he  de- 
clared :  — 

Mr.  Joseph  Chamberlain  is  a  great  man  and  a  great 
statesman.  The  Colonies  look  upon  Mr.  Chamberlain 
as  their  very  best  friend  and  one  who,  in  the  high  posi- 
tion he  has  held,  has  done  more  for  the  Colonies,  and  is 
doing  more  for  the  Colonies,  for  the  Mother  Country, 
for  the  Empire,  and  for  the  general  good,  than  any 
other  man.  But  what  have  British  political  parties 
done  for  the  Colonies?  Other  countries  have  been 
seeking  to  be  connected  closely  with  them,  even  more 
so,  perhaps,  than  the  Mother  Country,  for  the  time 
was  not  far  past  when  some  of  their  statesmen  con- 
sidered that  it  would  be  to  the  benefit  of  the  United 
Kingdom  if  the  Colonies  were  gently  allowed  to  go 
their  own  way.  Where  would  their  Empire  be  if 
England  were  alone?  Was  it  not  better  that  they 
should  be  brought  together,  for  then  they  would  have 
an  Empire  of  which  they  might  well  be  proud?  During 
the  South  African  War  the  Colonies  had  come  to  the 
assistance  of  the  Mother  Land  because  they  felt  that  it 
was  only  by  being  united  that  there  could  be  real  and 
true  strength  within  the  Empire. 

As  they  did  in  the  past,  so  would  they  do  in  the 
future.  Therefore,  it  will  be  wisdom  on  their  part 
to  endeavour  to  draw  closer  and  still  more  closer 
to  the  Colonies  than  is  at  present  the  case,  making 

392 


Correct  Official  Behaviour 

such  arrangements  in  a  commercial  sense  as  will 
enable  them  to  have  within  the  domestic  circle  of 
the  Empire  the  cooperation  and  union  and  reciproc- 
ity that  would  make  one  great  family. 

He  was  not  to  go  without  criticism,  and  he  took 
an  early  opportunity  to  reply  to  the  attack  made 
on  him  in  the  Canadian  House  of  Commons.  By 
one  member  he  was  accused  of  exceeding  his  rights 
as  Canadian  High  Commissioner,  by  practically  al- 
lying himself  with  one  of  the  British  political  par- 
ties and  campaigning  with  Mr.  Chamberlain.  If 
the  charge  were  true,  and  if  he  had  been  guilty  of 
allying  himself  with  Mr.  Chamberlain,  it  is  only  fair 
to  say  that  in  so  doing  he  would  have  acted  ex- 
actly as  the  vast  majority  of  his  fellow-Canadians 
would  have  been  proud  to  have  him  act.  But  the 
truth  is,  he  was  always  very  careful  to  remember 
his  semi-diplomatic  position  in  London,  and  to  keep 
himself  clear  of  British  party  politics. 

He  retorted  that  while  a  very  great  admirer  of 
Mr.  Chamberlain,  he  had  never  in  any  way  been 
connected  with  that  statesman's  fiscal  crusade,  and 
that  in  his  position  as  representative  of  Canada, 
he  knew  no  politics,  British  or  Canadian. 

This  [declared  a  leading  Montreal  journal]  is  an 
entirely  satisfactory  reply  to  the  criticism  in  question. 
No  attitude  could  be  more  proper.  Canadians  would 
generally  not  want  him  to  conceal  his  personal  belief 
in  Mr.  Chamberlain's  pro-Canadian  policy;  but  they 
will  agree  with  him  that  his  delicate  and  highly  impor- 
tant work  in  London  can  best  be  done  from  a  position 
of  party  neutrality. 

393 


Lord  Strathcona 

His  visit  to  Canada  that  year,  if  not  marked  by 
such  scenes  of  tumultuous  enthusiasm,  was  again 
very  pleasant,  and  awoke  many  happy  memories. 
He  said  in  the  course  of  a  public  speech :  — 

To  me  it  appears  looking  back  as  a  dream.  It  dis- 
poses me  to  rub  my  eyes  sometimes  and  feel  if  I  am 
really  awake.  Who  could  have  thought  fifty  years  ago 
of  the  transformation  which  has  taken  place?  Seeing 
what  has  been  done  in  the  past  by  the  people  of 
Canada,  it  is  an  earnest,  and  a  good  one,  too,  that 
they  will  still  be  up  and  stirring,  and  that  they  will  not 
be  contented  only  with  what  they  and  their  fathers 
have  done,  but  that  they  themselves  will  still  continue 
to  do  their  utmost,  and  that  they  will  instill  into  the 
minds  of  their  children,  and  the  children  again  of  these, 
that  there  is  an  inheritance  which  is  theirs,  and  that  it 
would  be  a  humiliation  to  all  of  them  not  to  do  their 
utmost  to  sustain  it,  and  to  still  press  forward. 

Even  sixty  years  ago  I  was  an  optimist.  Pessimism 
is  not  a  good  thing  to  live  upon.  You  may  go  upon  it 
for  a  while  if  you  will,  but  for  a  country  or  a  person, 
depend  upon  it  you  will  make  more  out  of  anything  by 
thinking  good  of  it  than  by  holding  it  in  ill  favour. 
And  that  is  how  it  will  be  with  Canadians. 

From  time  to  time  rumours  of  his  approaching 
retirement  appeared  in  the  newspapers.  In  the 
autumn  of  1903  these  rumours  brought  forth  an 
official  denial  from  the  Honourable  Mr.  Field- 
ing in  the  Canadian  House  of  Commons.  General 
cheers  greeted  the  Minister's  statement,  and  there 
was  in  England  many  an  echo  of  congratulation. 
The  burden  of  eighty-three  years  now  rested  upon 

394 


Lord  Dundonald 

his  shoulders,  yet  he  had  no  sooner  returned  to 
England  than  he  at  once  plunged  into  the  heart  of 
things  Canadian,  especially  the  scheme,  not  yet 
realized,  for  a  fast  Atlantic  line. 

Of  the  many  admirers  of  the  Earl  of  Dundonald, 
who  had  gone  out  to  Canada  to  fill  the  post  formerly 
held  by  General  (now  Sir  Edward)  Hutton,  he  was 
not  the  least.  He  deplored  the  political  partisan- 
ship which,  in  the  Dominion,  too  often  ruled  in  the 
appointment  of  militia  officers.  Of  Dundonald, 
Colonel  Hughes,  M.P.,  said  in  the  Canadian  House 
of  Commons :  — 

One  of  his  ancestors  was  the  famous  admiral  who 
commanded  the  British  frigate,  Navarion;  another  fell 
at  the  capture  of  Louisburg  in  the  eighteenth  century; 
and  the  General  himself  is  distinguished  in  every  part 
of  the  world  where  he  has  served.  The  Strathcona 
Horse  and  other  Canadian  corps  followed  him  again 
and  again  to  victory  in  South  Africa,  and  I  can  readily 
understand  the  annoyance  that  an  officer  of  his  stand- 
ing should  feel,  on  coming  out  here,  with  the  best 
interests  of  the  Empire  at  heart,  —  with  the  best 
interests  of  Canada  at  heart,  because  the  interests  of 
Canada  are  the  interests  of  the  Empire,  —  at  having 
to  put  up  with  this  thing  from  week  to  week,  and 
finally  becoming  so  exasperated,  as  at  a  banquet, 
determined  that  come  what  might  he  would  for  all 
time  to  come  put  a  stop  to  such  petty  meddling  as 
has  been  indulged  in.1 

None  the  less,  it  was  clear,  as  the  facts  came 
out,  that  Lord  Dundonald  had  been  imprudent  — 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  June  10,  1904. 
395 


Lord  Strathcona 

indeed,  in  his  protest  against  what  he  conceived  to 
be  an  evil,  that  he  had  cast  prudence  to  the  winds. 
The  result  was  an  Order-in-Council  relieving  Lord 
Dundonald  of  his  duties. 


From  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

OTTAWA,  loth  August,  1904. 
MY  DEAR  LORD  STRATHCONA:  — 

His  Excellency,  the  Governor-General,  has  for- 
warded, by  this  mail,  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Colonies,  copy  of  an  Order-in-Council  concerning  the 
actions  of  the  Earl  of  Dundonald,  whilst  he  was  acting 
as  General  Officer  Commanding  the  Canadian  Militia. 
I  enclose  herewith  copy  of  the  same  Order-in-Council, 
for  your  lordship's  information.  I  deem  it  expedient 
that  you  should  be  in  possession  of  all  the  facts  con- 
nected with  this  unfortunate  affair,  so  as  to  be  in  a 
position  to  discuss  it  in  all  its  aspects,  with  Mr.  Lyt- 
telton,  and  also,  if  need  be,  with  Mr.  Arnold- Forster. 

Up  to  this  present  time  I  did  not  deem  it  advisable 
to  trouble  your  lordship  with  this  case,  otherwise  than 
to  send  you  copy  of  the  Order-in-Council  relieving  the 
Earl  of  Dundonald  from  his  command,  and  to  ask  you 
to  communicate  it  to  Mr.  Lyttelton. 

The  document  which  I  now  enclose  shows  that,  in 
the  exercise  of  his  functions  as  General  Officer  Com- 
manding the  Canadian  Militia,  the  Earl  of  Dundonald 
gave  direct  orders  to  his  subordinates  to  conceal  from 
the  Minister  of  Militia  certain  information  which  he 
was  bound  to  place  before  him.  This  document  throws 
a  flood  of  light  on  the  manner  in  which  the  Earl 
of  Dundonald  understood  and  practised  his  duties 
toward  the  Minister,  under  whom  he  had  accepted  to 

396 


Dundonald's  Dismissal 

serve,  and,  indeed,  it  is  impossible  to  explain  how  an 
honourable  man,  holding  the  rank  and  position  of  the 
Earl  of  Dundonald,  could  justify  such  an  action.  The 
least  that  can  be  said  of  it  is  that  it  was  an  act  of  dis- 
loyalty to  his  chief,  and  it  may  give  the  cue  to  other 
acts  of  his  violation  of  the  King's  regulations,  which 
eventually  forced  the  Canadian  Government  to  take 
the  only  course  with  which  such  deliberate  insubordi- 
nation can  be  treated. 

I  abstain  from  further  comments,  but  I  would  be 
obliged  if  you  would  interview,  first,  Mr.  Lyttelton, 
and  then  Mr.  Arnold- Forster,  and  assure  both  of  them 
that  we  regret  as  much  as  they  do  themselves  that 
the  action  of  the  Earl  of  Dundonald  left  us  no  alterna- 
tive, and  that  the  course  which  we  took  was  dictated 
by  the  necessity  of  maintaining  the  discipline  of  the 
force  and  of  vindicating  the  authority  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

In  reply  Lord  Strathcona  wrote  in  September 
from  Glencoe:  — 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

There  has  been  much  delay  in  carrying  out  the  in- 
structions conveyed  to  me  in  your  letter,  but  this  was 
unavoidable  as  both  Secretary  Lyttelton  and  Mr. 
Arnold- Forster  had  left  London  before  its  receipt,  the 
former  for  Scotland  and  the  latter  for  the  Continent. 

Neither  of  these  gentlemen  intends  being  in  London 
until  October,  and  it  was  not  without  some  difficulty 
I  at  length  succeeded  in  seeing  both  of  them  in 
Scotland. 

As  to  the  substance  of  the  conversation  I  had  with 
Mr.  Lyttelton  and  Mr.  Arnold-Forster  with  regard  to 

397 


Lord  Strathcona 

the  Lord  Dundonald  incident,  I  discussed  the  matter 
most  fully  with  both.  The  former  considers  that  the 
action  of  the  Commandant,  as  shown  in  report  of  the 
Privy  Council  of  August  4,  was  most  reprehensible, 
and  would  not  recommend  his  having  any  preferment 
or  appointment  at  present.  The  Secretary  for  War 
says  the  Commandant  affair  does  not  affect  Imperial 
Government  so  immediately  as  it  does  the  Canadian 
Government  whose  servant  he  was  and  who  dealt  with 
his  case  by  dismissing  him. 

We  may,  I  think,  feel  assured  that  they  greatly  dis- 
approve of  the  action  of  Lord  Dundonald  and  there  is 
no  fear  that  anything  will  be  done  either  by  the  War 
Office  authorities  or  the  Colonial  Secretary  in  giving 
preferment  or  employment  to  the  late  Commandant 
of  the  Canadian  Militia  for  some  time  to  come.  Mr. 
Arnold- Forster  informed  me  that  he  has  called  upon 
Lord  Dundonald  for  an  explanation  of  his  conduct. 

Lord  Strathcona's  friend,  Colonel  Hughes,  how- 
ever, championed  the  cause  of  Lord  Dundonald  as 
vigorously  as  he  had  denounced  General  Hutton 
four  years  before.  In  the  course  of  a  letter  Colonel 
Hughes  asserted :  — 

The  dismissal  of  Lord  Dundonald  by  Sir  Wilfrid 
Laurier's  Government  and  the  appointment  of  a 
Canadian  Major-General  of  the  military  forces  of  the 
Dominion,  if  resented  by  the  Imperial  Government, 
may  sunder  the  tie  that  binds  Canada  to  the  Empire. 

Happily,  the  Imperial  Government  did  not  re- 
sent either.1 

1  In  the  course  of  a  debate  in  the  Canadian  Parliament  Mr.  (now 
Sir)  Robert  Borden  said:  "While  I  regard  this  as  a  very  regrettable 

398 


Earl  Grey's  Appointment 

It  was  fortunate  that  the  Imperial  tie  should  be 
strengthened  rather  than  weakened  by  the  arrival 
that  year  of  so  strong,  ardent,  and  intelligent  an 
Imperialist  as  Earl  Grey,  who  came  to  take  up 
the  Governor-Generalship,  which  Lord  Minto  had, 
after  six  notable  years,  relinquished  for  the  great 
post  of  Viceroy  of  India. 

From  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

OTTAWA,  September  i3th,  1904. 

I  enclose  a  letter  to  Lord  Grey,  our  new  Governor- 
General,  which  I  would  respectfully  ask  you  to  deliver 
to  him  personally.  I  desire  that  you  would  at  the 
same  time  express  to  Lord  Grey  that  his  selection  by 
His  Majesty  for  this  most  important  position  has  been 
received  by  all  classes  in  the  country  with  very  great 
satisfaction. 

I  have  suggested  to  Lord  Grey  that  it  would  be 
extremely  desirable  that  there  should  be  the  shortest 
possible  interreign  between  Lord  Minto's  departure 
and  his  arrival  in  Canada. 

incident,  it  will  not  be  without  benefit  to  the  country,  if,  in  the  future, 
it  will  lead  to  the  withdrawal  of  partisan  interference  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  officers  of  the  militia,  whether  that  interference  may  come 
from  the  Government  now  in  power  or  may  be  sought  to  be  applied 
by  any  Government  which  may  come  into  power  in  the  future.  We 
do  not  want  political  interference  in  military  matters  in  Canada. 
The  people  pay  a  considerable  amount  for  the  military  service  of  this 
country;  they  are  willing  to  pay  that  amount  for  an  efficient  mili- 
tary service;  but  we  do  not  want  that  service  to  deteriorate  or  be- 
come inefficient  by  reason  of  party  politics  entering  into  it  in  any 
way.  We  have  had  this  afternoon  a  confession  which  indicates  that 
party  politics  has  been  entering  into  it  for  some  time  past,  on  the 
part  of  the  Minister  of  Agriculture  at  any  rate."  (Parliamentary 
Debates,  June  10,  1904.) 

399 


Lord  Strathcona 

Lord  Minto  intends  to  sail  on  the  2 1st  of  October, 
but  that  date  is  not  fully  determined.  But  whenever 
Lord  Minto  sails  for  England,  my  opinion  is  very 
strong  that  Lord  Grey  should  also  forthwith  sail  for 
Canada.  I  urge  this  point,  because,  after  the  depar- 
ture of  Lord  Minto,  until  the  arrival  of  his  successor, 
matters  of  routine  alone  could  be  attended  to,  all 
important  questions  would  have  to  be  deferred,  and 
sometimes  great  prejudice  might  arise. 

With  Mr.  Chamberlain's  successor  at  the  Colo- 
nial Office,  the  Honourable  Alfred  Lyttelton,  the 
High  Commissioner  was  on  the  most  cordial  terms. 
During  his  term  the  long-desired  boon  of  penny 
postage  to  Canada  was  established,  and  at  a  Canada 
Club  dinner,  in  1905,  Lord  Strathcona  expressed 
the  earnest  hope  that  before  long  the  Imperial 
Government  would  extend  the  same  preference  to 
the  postage  of  newspapers  sent  from  the  United 
Kingdom  to  Canada. 

It  would  be  very  greatly  appreciated,  indeed,  if  they 
could  have  their  newspapers  sent  at  a  preferential 
rate,  a  rate  lower  than  that  which  had  been  given  to 
foreign  countries.  He  regarded  that  as  a  matter  of 
some  importance;  for  they  had  coming  to  them  from 
their  neighbours,  cousins,  and  happily,  he  could  also 
say,  their  warm  friends  in  the  United  States,  the  pa- 
pers of  that  country  by  thousands.  They  were  glad 
to  see  the  telegrams  and  news  in  these  papers,  but 
they  would  prefer  to  have  their  own  papers  from  the 
Mother  Country  to  tell  them  everything  that  was  of 
interest  to  that  country,  and  also  to  them  as  members 
of  the  same  Empire.  He  trusted  that  before  long  they 
would  have  that  privilege. 

400 


English  Newspaper  Postage 

This  boon  was  at  last  granted  in  1908  and  has 
been  of  incalculable  advantage  to  British  sentiment 
and  a  knowledge  of  things  British  in  Canada,  al- 
though it  is  to  be  feared  that  it  has  not  yet  exerted 
a  due  effect  upon  the  tone  of  our  native  newspapers, 
which,  as  a  prominent  Canadian  complained  to 
Lord  Strathcona,  "  technically  and  literately  are 
inferior  to  those  of  any  other  part  of  the  Empire." 

Lord  Lansdowne  to  Lord  Strathcona 

November  23d,  1904. 

Owing  to  the  death  of  a  near  relative,  I  find  myself 
with  great  regret  prevented  at  the  last  moment  from 
enjoying  the  hospitality  of  the  Canada  Club. 

It  would  have  been  delightful  for  me  to  join  in  doing 
honour  to  a  Governor-General-elect,  who,  as  an  old 
friend,  I  regarded  with  sincere  affection,  and  for  whom, 
as  a  public  man,  I  entertain  feelings  of  the  greatest 
respect.  Twenty-one  years  ago  I  was  just  arriving  in 
Canada  at  the  commencement  of  a  term  of  office 
which  I  have  never  ceased  to  look  back  upon  as  one  of 
the  happiest  and  most  instructive  periods  of  my  life. 
I  recall  with  pleasure  the  circumstance  that  in  those 
days  Lord  Grey,  who  was  amongst  our  visitors,  al- 
ready showed  keen  interest  in  the  Dominion  and  its 
affairs.  He  is,  in  my  opinion,  greatly  to  be  envied,  and, 
if  I  may  be  allowed  to  say  so,  I  think  the  Dominion  is 
to  be  congratulated  on  the  appointment  of  one  who 
stands  so  high  in  the  esteem  of  all  who  know  him. 

Year  after  year  Lord  Strathcona  sounded  at 
Dominion  Day  banquets,  at  which  he  always  pre- 
sided, the  same  note,  of  which  neither  he  nor  his 

401 


Lord  Strathcona 

hearers  ever  tired,  the  note  of  jubilation  at  Canada's 
material  triumphs  and  confidence  in  her  future 
prosperity. 

The  progress  of  Canada  since  Confederation  has  been 
[he  said  in  1906]  miraculous.  In  every  respect,  through- 
out the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria  it  has  progressed.  The 
transcontinental  railway,  for  which  many  prophesied 
disaster  at  the  time  of  its  construction,  is  soon  to  be 
supplemented  by  at  least  one  other  similar  road.  In 
agriculture,  trade,  industry,  and  mining,  the  country 
has  gone  ahead  by  leaps  and  bounds. 

It  was  indeed  a  "growing"  time  for  the  once- 
neglected  Dominion. 

It  seems  only  a  few  years  since,  by  a  liberal  sub- 
sidy, Canada  obtained  a  railway  across  the  continent. 
There  had  been  a  prevalent  opinion  that  the  enterprise 
would  be  most  disastrous  for  those  who  took  it  in  hand. 
Last  year  the  gross  income  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  reached  £12,000,000  sterling.  We  now  feel 
assured  that  there  will  be  abundant  work  not  only 
for  the  Canadian  Pacific,  but  for  two  and  perhaps 
three  other  transcontinental  railways.  In  a  few  years  I 
hope  there  will  be  steamers  crossing  from  the  United 
Kingdom  to  Canada  in  three  and  a  half  or  four  days, 
so  that  travellers  from  this  country  can  reach  the 
Pacific  Ocean  in  eight  days,  going  on  thence  to  Japan 
and  other  Asiatic  regions,  with  which  Canada  was 
coming  into  close  connection  commercially. 

Touching  the  latter  project,  Lord  Strathcona 
never  hid  his  own  confident  belief  in  the  commer- 
cial success  of  a  twenty-five-knot  service  between 
Britain  and  Canada,  devoted  to  passengers  alone, 

402 


The  "All-Red  Route" 

and  his  dissatisfaction  with  anything  falling  short 
of  that  standard.  In  other  words,  the  most  experi- 
enced, and,  one  might  add,  the  most  cautious,  of 
Canadians  never  wavered  in  his  confidence  that 
Canada  would  not  be  satisfied  with  a  service  in 
any  respect  inferior  to  the  best  that  is  provided 
on  the  New  York  route.  He  even  expressed  his 
readiness  to  subscribe  himself  £100,000  toward 
such  a  service  from  any  British  or  Irish  port  that 
could  be  justified  as  the  best  port  for  the  service, 
and  provided  that  it  were  under  thoroughly  capable 
and  experienced  management.  In  February,  1907, 
he  said :  — 

I  should  be  very  glad  if  there  were  a  faster  service. 
The  present  services  are  very  good,  and  are  doing 
very  well,  but  we  want  it  faster  yet.  The  faster  we 
can  go  the  more  we  will  come  together  on  both  sides. 
There  is  a  real  need  for  a  faster  service.  The  numbers 
of  Canadians  who  come  to  this  country  seem  to  justify 
the  demand.  In  July  last  I  saw  at  one  time  and  in 
one  place  in  London  no  fewer  than  twelve  hundred 
Canadians.  When  we  see  so  many  people  crossing 
from  the  Dominion,  we  are  naturally  desirous  of 
securing  the  best  facilities  for  their  transit  across  the 
Atlantic. 

The  "All-Red  Route"  was  a  phrase  adopted  for 
the  sake  of  brevity  to  describe  a  notable  scheme 
of  improved  inter- Imperial  communications  which 
Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  proposed  at  the  Conference 
in  1907,  and  which  the  Imperial  Government  ac- 
cepted.1 

1  "That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Conference  the  interests  of  the 

403 


Lord  Strathcona 

If  [said  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier]  we  had  on  the  Atlan- 
tic Ocean  between  Canada  and  Great  Britain  a  mail 
service  equal  in  speed  and  character  to  the  service  now 
in  existence  between  England  and  New  York,  there  is 
no  doubt,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  at  all,  that  we 
should  save  in  the  journey  at  least  two  days,  or  about 
two  days,  inasmuch  as  we  have  an  advantage  in  our 
favour  in  distance  of  nearly  nine  hundred  miles. 

The  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  (Mr.  Lloyd 
George)  was  equally  emphatic  on  this  point.  In 
his  speech  to  the  Conference  (May  6)  he  said :  — 

The  problem  that  has  been  suggested  to  us  by 
Sir  Joseph  Ward  and  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  and  other 
speakers  is  to  reduce,  as  far  as  possible,  the  natural 
disadvantage  of  distance  under  which  we  suffer.  The 
prompt  and  the  cheap  delivery  of  foods,  perishable 
articles,  and  raw  materials  is  a  very  big  factor  to  the 
consumer  and  manufacturer,  and  it  is  these  commodi- 
ties which  are  so  largely  produced  in  the  Colonies  and 
so  largely  required  in  this  country.  The  development 
and  acceleration  of  inter- Imperial  communication  for 
business  purposes  would  undoubtedly  be  a  movement 
in  which  all  parts  of  the  Empire  would  share  for  their 
mutual  benefit.  It  would  result  not  only  in  increased 
facilities  for  the  marketing  of  goods  and  for  stimulat- 
ing the  development  of  trade,  but  in  giving  important 

Empire  demand  that,  in  so  far  as  practicable,  its  different  portions 
should  be  connected  by  the  best  possible  means  of  mail  communica- 
tion, travel,  and  transportation; 

"That  to  this  end  it  is  advisable  that  Great  Britain  should  be 
connected  with  Canada,  and  through  Canada  with  Australia  and 
New  Zealand,  by  the  best  service  available  within  reasonable  cost; 

"And  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  the  above  project  into  effect 
such  financial  support  as  may  be  necessary  should  be  contributed  by 
Great  Britain,  Canada,  Australia,  and  New  Zealand  in  equitable 
proportions."  (Resolutions  of  the  Imperial  Conference,  1907.) 

404 


Advantages  of  the  Scheme 

opportunities  to  the  movement  of  individuals  from  one 
part  of  the  Empire  to  another.  By  bringing  the  dis- 
tant parts  of  the  Empire  nearer  to  the  centre  it  would 
make  the  Empire  more  compact.  All  that  is  an  es- 
sential element  in  trade. 

He  himself  had  thus  explained  its  advantages: 

The  All-Red  project  would  be  a  great  thing,  not  only 
for  Canada,  but  also  for  all  parts  of  the  Empire ;  and  I 
earnestly  hope  to  live  to  see  it  an  accomplished  fact. 
The  establishment  of  an  eight-day  service  between 
Liverpool  and  Vancouver,  which  would  be  a  result  of 
it,  would  cause  large  quantities  of  foreign  capital  to 
flow  into  the  country.  Many  people  who  are  now 
deterred,  by  the  length  of  time  necessary  for  the  jour- 
ney, from  going  so  far  west  as  the  coast,  would,  with 
the  establishment  of  the  new  service,  be  led  to  do 
so,  and  the  sight  of  the  great  resources  of  the  prairie 
regions  would  lead  them  to  invest  their  capital  in 
Canada  rather  than  in  foreign  countries.  It  is  merely  a 
matter  of  cost.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  thing  could 
not  be  done  if  the  money  were  forthcoming.  And  I 
think  it  is  a  thing  worth  spending  money  to  accom- 
plish. We  spend  a  great  deal  on  mere  local  improve- 
ments, and  here  is  something  that  would  be  a  great 
benefit  not  only  to  Canada,  but  to  the  whole  Empire 
as  well.  I  think  that  in  such  a  case  we  should  be  very 
much  more  willing  to  disburse  the  necessary  funds.  I 
feel  quite  confident  of  its  ultimate  success.  A  definite 
offer  has  been  made  by  a  steamship  company  to  un- 
dertake the  fast  service  on  the  Atlantic,  as  a  part  of 
the  project,  for  a  subsidy  of  £500,000  a  year,  and  the 
Canadian  Government  are  prepared  to  bear  half  of 
this  subsidy,  £250,000  a  year. 

405 


Lord  Strathcona 

From  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

LONDON,  26th  April,  1907. 

I  have  thought  a  good  deal  upon  the  subject  of  a 
new  mail  service  between  England  and  Canada,  and 
connected  with  it,  a  service  between  Canada  and  the 
Orient.  This  is  one  of  the  most  important  matters  that 
we  have  had  to  deal  with  in  many  years,  and  I  would 
attach  much  importance  to  your  active  cooperation 
in  the  same.  I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  if  you 
were  to  interest  yourself  with  this  service  it  would  be 
made  a  complete  success. 

Replying  to  this  Lord  Strathcona  wrote :  — 
To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

29th  April,  1907. 

It  is  a  great  gratification  to  me  to  know  that  you 
have  under  favourable  consideration  a  more  expedi- 
tious mail  service  between  England  and  Canada,  and 
also  between  Canada  and  the  Orient. 

Let  me  say  that  so  fully  convinced  am  I  that  such  a 
fast  mail  and  passenger  service  would  be  one  of  the 
most  potent  factors  in  the  prosperity  of  the  Dominion 
that  I  shall  most  cordially,  to  the  best  of  my  ability, 
second  your  efforts  in  bringing  it  about. 

The  "All-Red  Route"  occupied  his  attention  to 
the  close  of  his  life.  He  even  enjoyed  the  jest  of  the 
eminent  surgeon  called  in  to  examine  his  heart  and 
arteries,  who  tapped  him  significantly  in  the  cardiac 
region  and  remarked,  "We  must  attend  to  the 
All-Red  Route,  my  Lord." 

406 


The  "All-Red  Route" 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

1 5th  February,  1908. 

For  some  little  time  not  much  has  been  said  about 
the  All-Red  Route  in  the  press  here,  but  it  is  under- 
stood that  the  Government  continue  to  be  as  well 
disposed  toward  it  as  they  were  at  the  time  of  the 
Conference. 

Immediately  on  receiving  your  letters  regarding  the 
extension  for  two  years  of  the  subsidy  to  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  Company  for  their  steamers  from 
Vancouver  to  Japan  and  China,  I  communicated  with 
the  Government,  but  am  yet  without  their  answer.  I 
am,  however,  to  have  an  interview  with  Lord  Elgin  on 
Monday  next,  and  hope  then  to  learn  from  him  some- 
thing of  a  definite  character  with  regard  to  the  views 
of  himself  and  his  colleagues  in  the  matter.1 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  1906  that  there  occurred 
the  truly  remarkable  Aberdeen  University  cente- 
nary celebration.  As  Chancellor,  Lord  Strathcona 
was  the  foremost  figure.  On  the  first  day  he  led 
a  great  procession  through  the  streets  of  Aber- 
deen to  the  temporary  hall  erected  at  his  expense. 
There  he  received  the  congratulatory  addresses 
handed  in  by  representatives  of  many  universities 

1  The  gross  revenue  collected  by  the  British  Post-Office  on  the 
letter  and  parcel  mails  despatched  from  this  country  by  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  service  for  the  year  1907  was  estimated  at  £35,000.  To 
this  should  be  added  a  sum  of  about  £3000  received  for  the  convey- 
ance of  foreign  and  colonial  mails.  The  annual  subsidy  payable  to 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company  was  £60,000,  of  which 
£15,000  is  contributed  by  Canada  and  £45,000  by  the  British  Gov- 
ernment. The  subsidy,  of  course,  did  not  cover  the  cost  of  dealing 
with  the  mails  in  Great  Britain. 

407 


Lord  Strathcona 

and  learned  bodies.  There  again  he  entertained  at 
dinner  the  same  representatives  and  all  the  gradu- 
ates of  the  University  who  returned  for  the  cele- 
brations, and  representatives  of  the  undergraduate 
body. 

It  is  easy  [writes  Miss  Hurlbatt]  for  me  to  recall  the 
persistent  voice  that  succeeded  in  penetrating  to  the 
recesses  of  that  great  hall,  and  to  call  up  again  the 
scene  as  with  quiet  dignity  he  presided  over  that 
colossal  dinner  party.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be 
one  of  only  two  ladies  at  the  group  of  high  tables 
(there  were,  of  course,  women  at  the  graduate  tables, 
for  the  University  opened  its  doors  to  women  in  1892) 
and  from  a  near  vantage-point  to  watch  the  face  of 
our  host. 

It  was  he  who  received  King  Edward  in  the  great 
courtyard  of  Marischal  College,  when  the  latter 
came  to  declare  open  the  new  buildings  that  had 
been  erected  as  the  gift  of  Lord  Strathcona  himself. 

Before  Lord  Strathcona  became  Chancellor  [wrote 
Sir  William  Robertson  Nicoll],  the  Chancellorship  was 
a  mere  name.  The  Chancellor  of  my  time  took  no 
interest  in  the  University,  and  did  nothing  save  to 
meddle  once  in  a  foolish  way  with  the  Rectorial 
election.  Lord  Strathcona's  liberality  has  been  un- 
bounded, and  he  has  taken  the  keenest  interest  alike  in 
the  erection  and  equipment  of  the  new  buildings  and 
in  the  ceremonies  of  their  opening.  He  built  for  the 
occasion  a  wooden  hall  which  accommodates  between 
four  thousand  and  five  thousand  people.  There  was 
genuine  and  wise  kindness  in  this  action.  For  one 
thing,  it  enabled  many  to  have  a  share  in  the  celebra- 

408 


"A  Powerful  Old  Fellow" 

tions  who  could  not  otherwise  have  been  present.  For 
another,  it  gave  Lord  Strathcona  an  opportunity  of 
entertaining  some  twenty- five  hundred  guests.  If  it 
had  not  been  for  this,  no  satisfactory  provisions  could 
have  been  made  for  the  multitudes  who  had  a  real 
claim  to  share  in  the  festivities.  Lord  Strathcona  is 
indeed  a  wonder.  Though  he  bears  the  burden  of 
eighty-six  years,  he  is  as  erect  as  ever,  as  keen,  as 
alert,  as  eager  as  the  youngest.  He  speaks  with  great 
fluency,  but  his  voice  was  scarcely  strong  enough  to 
carry  over  the  immense  buildings  in  which  he  had 
to  use  it.  Nevertheless,  his  speeches,  when  read,  are 
seen  to  be  graceful  in  style,  and  full  of  wisdom.  A 
famous  Irish  delegate  said  to  me  after  the  Music  Hall 
gathering:  "I  was  most  interested  in  Strathcona;  he 
is  a  powerful  old  fellow." 

To  us  here  [says  the  Principal  of  Aberdeen  Univer- 
sity] what  Lord  Strathcona  did  for  our  University 
comes  most  directly  home.  First,  as  Lord  Rector, 
chosen  by  students,  then  as  Chancellor,  elected  by 
graduates,  he  gave  ungrudgingly  his  time,  thought, 
and  substance  —  wise  words  treasured  in  our  memo- 
ries and  our  chronicles,  generous  gifts  enshrined  in  our 
academic  history.  His  name  will  ever  be  associated 
with  those  of  the  elder  and  younger  Mitchells  as  one 
of  the  noble  trio  whose  outstanding  munificence  and 
stimulating  sympathy  enabled  the  heads  of  our  city 
and  University  to  bring  our  Marischal  College  exten- 
sion to  successful  consummation,  while  in  more  re- 
cent days  his  endowment  of  the  Chair  of  Agriculture 
has  supplemented  effectively  the  bounty  of  the  great 
Carnegie  Trust.  At  our  quarter-centenary  in  1906,  our 
Chancellor's  keen  interest  and  active  participation 

409 


Lord  Strathcona 

from  first  to  last  in  the  celebrations  evoked  universal 
admiration.  And  when  his  bold  proposal  to  gather 
students,  graduates,  officials,  delegates  —  membra  qu&- 
libet  —  into  a  vast  social  assembly,  as  the  embodiment 
of  academic  unity  and  brotherhood,  when  that  bold 
proposal  at  first  met  with  the  response  that  no  hall 
in  our  city  could  accommodate  so  enormous  a  throng, 
we  recall  how  the  maker  of  the  Pacific  Railway  smiled 
away  the  mountain  of  obstacle.  "Who  art  thou,  oh 
Mountain?  Before  Zerubbabel  a  plain." 

Within  three  weeks  we  were  commemorating  our 
quarter-centenary  in  the  great  Strathcona  Hall. 

Less  imposing  to  the  carnal  eye,  but  invested  with 
a  pathos  yet  more  impressive,  was  our  aged  Chancel- 
lor's memorable  visit  at  the  graduation  of  1909,  when 
our  late  lamented  Principal  lay  on  that  sick-bed  over 
which  the  angel  of  death  was  already  hovering.  Our 
grand  old  man,  scorning  all  risk  to  health,  and  with  a 
fine  chivalry  toward  the  stricken  Principal  and  the 
expectant  graduates,  travelled  overnight  at,  for  him, 
a  most  busy  time  to  fulfil  the  Vice-Chancellor's  duties, 
to  crown  the  proud  alumni  and  alumnae  with  the  cap 
of  academic  imprimatur,  and  to  address,  amid  rever- 
ent and  unwonted  stillness,  his  never-to-be-forgotten 
words  of  encouragement  and  counsel. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Lord  Strathcona  gave 
one  of  the  most  elaborate  feasts  of  modern  times, 
and  at  the  time  the  British  press  gave  a  detailed 
account  of  the  whole  affair.  There  was  no  caterer 
in  Scotland  capable  of  undertaking  such  a  large 
contract  as  a  dinner  to  the  whole  University,  so 
it  was  let  to  a  London  caterer,  who  made  truly 
Gargantuan  preparations  in  his  own  establishment 

410 


A  Gargantuan  Feast 

in  London  and  then  moved  his  outfit  by  special 
train  to  Aberdeen  —  waiters,  food,  dishes,  and 
everything  ready  to  spread  on  the  tables.  The 
serving-staff  numbered  six  hundred  and  fifty,  and 
between  them  they  had  to  supply  a  mile  of  tables. 
There  were  twenty-five  thousand  plates  of  one 
design  in  use,  twelve  thousand  glasses,  and  the 
entire  service  was  of  silver.  A  feature  of  the  menu 
was  the  turtle  soup.  The  dinner  cost  Lord  Strath- 
cona  about  eight  thousand  pounds,  this  including 
about  three  thousand  pounds  as  the  cost  of  the 
temporary  hall  in  which  it  was  held.  The  platform 
alone  accommodated  one  thousand  guests,  and 
altogether  there  were  present  as  his  guests  two 
thousand  four  hundred  and  forty  people. 

In  the  autumn  of  1907  the  unfortunate  anti- 
Japanese  riots,  which  broke  out  in  Vancouver, 
caused  Lord  Strathcona  to  have  several  consulta- 
tions with  the  Foreign  and  Colonial  Offices.  Lord 
Grey  sent  the  following  despatch  to  the  Mayor  of 
Vancouver :  — 

His  Excellency  the  Governor-General  has  learned 
with  the  deepest  regret  the  indignities  and  cruelties 
of  which  certain  subjects  of  the  Emperor  of  Japan,  a 
friend  and  ally  of  His  Majesty  the  King,  have  been 
the  victims,  and  he  hopes  that  peace  will  be  promptly 
restored  and  all  offenders  punished. 

Although  the  troubles  subsided,  Lord  Strath- 
cona saw  that  all  was  not  well  in  this  direction.  He 
was  much  interested  in  the  statement  and  pro- 
posals which  reached  him  from  one  of  his  corre- 

411 


Lord  Strathcona 

spondents,  who  had  studied  the  whole  question, 
and  this  remarkable  letter  he  forwarded  to  Sir 
Wilfrid  Laurier. 

While  it  is  futile  [the  author  of  the  letter  wrote]  to 
exaggerate  the  mob  riots  with  Japanese  at  Vancouver, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  a  repetition  of  them 
on  a  larger  scale  would  jeopardize  the  status  of  the 
present  Government  of  Canada,  and  England's  present 
alliance  with  Japan.  But  racial  strife  in  British  Colum- 
bia, or  indeed  in  any  part  of  the  Dominion,  would  of 
necessity,  by  estranging  capital  and  checking  the  ad- 
vent of  immigrants,  become  most  serious  in  arrest- 
ing the  development  of  Canada. 

The  fact  that  Canada  has  no  army  or  navy  of  its 
own,  while  Japan  in  its  armaments  ranks  as  a  first- 
rate  power,  might  be  counterbalanced  by  the  influence 
and  power  of  England  but  for  two  things,  first,  the 
actual  alliance  of  England  with  Japan,  which  enabled 
England  to  denude  the  Pacific  of  her  battleships,  — 
i.e.,  the  indispensable  in  maritime  war,  —  and  next, 
England's  determination  not  to  interfere  with  the  in- 
ternal affairs  of  her  Colonies,  and  to  retain  only  a 
nominal  suzerainty. 

This  non-interference  should  enable  Canada  to 
make  (with  England's  knowledge)  a  commercial  treaty 
with  Japan  to  the  benefit  of  both  countries,  and  an 
essential  part  of  such  treaty  would  be  the  regulation 
and  restriction  of  Japanese  immigrants,  both  as  to 
number  and  system  of  supervision. 

White  men  refuse  to  compete  with  Asiatic  labour, 
and  their  present  condition  of  life  and  habits  freely 
justify  them  if,  indeed,  they  are  right  in  saying,  "This 
is  the  white  man's  country  and  we  mean  to  keep  it  so." 

412 


Canadian-Japanese  Question 

The  Japanese  retort,  "You  forced  your  way  into  our 
country,  now  we  only  assert  our  rights  to  do  likewise." 

To  reconcile  interests  and  to  find  a  modus  vivendi 
both  for  Canadians  and  Japanese,  I  would  foster 
manufactures  (where  coal  permits)  in  the  first  instance, 
and  so  give  employment  and  profit  to  Japanese,  who 
might  otherwise  work  in  the  lumber  trade  and  fisheries 
as  they  do  to-day.  But  the  white  man  should  alone 
own  and  work  the  soil,  unless,  in  the  course  of  time, 
the  Canadian  Government  is  willing  conditionally  to 
permit  the  Japanese  to  become  British  subjects  and 
make  their  allegiance  to  the  British  Empire.  They 
would  then,  of  course,  have  votes. 

Furthermore,  to  remove  prejudice  and  racial  feel- 
ing, I  would  establish  a  Canadian-Japanese  College  for 
general  and  technical  knowledge,  where  all  boys  would 
be  on  the  same  footing. 

Ever  most  tenacious  was  Lord  Strathcona  of  the 
dignity  and  attributes  of  the  office  of  High  Com- 
missioner. He  disliked  intensely  the  prospect  of 
Canada's  representation  at  the  seat  of  Empire 
being  frittered  away  into  subordinate  cliques.  Yet 
he  was  made  constantly  aware  of  the  desire  on  the 
part  of  the  Agents-General  of  the  different  Prov- 
inces to  raise  their  status  and  consequence,  which, 
of  course,  could  only  be  at  the  expense  of  the  higher 
office.  Some  years  ago,  Sir  Richard  McBride,  the 
Premier  of  British  Columbia,  intervened  on  behalf 
of  his  Agent-General,  the  Honourable  J.  H.  Turner, 
whose  personal  claims  were,  in  addition,  regarded  as 
somewhat  more  favourable,  in  that  he  had  formerly 
himself  held  the  office  of  Premier  of  the  Province. 


Lord  Strathcona 

From  the  Honourable  Richard  McBride 

VICTORIA,  B.C.,  January  4th,  1908. 

As  you  are  no  doubt  aware,  through  conversation 
with  Mr.  J.  H.  Turner,  he  has  felt  that  it  would  be 
advisable  were  the  office  of  the  Agent-General  to 
receive  official  recognition  from  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment, as  it  would  be  of  assistance  in  his  work  were 
such  the  case.  I  discussed  the  matter  fully  with  him 
while  he  was  here  last  autumn,  and  we  both  felt  that 
such  recognition  would  be  beneficial  in  his  position  and 
would  meet  with  your  approval. 

Consequently  the  Executive  Council  to-day  passed 
an  Order-in-Council  requesting  the  Dominion  Gov- 
ernment to  bring  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  the 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  with  a  view  of 
securing  the  desired  official  recognition  of  the  Im- 
perial Government.  I  would  be  pleased  if  you  would 
kindly  use  your  good  offices  to  assist. 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier,  Lord  Strathcona  wrote, 
deploring  any  such  action :  — 

I  cannot  but  think  that  any  such  action  as  that 
recommended  by  Mr.  McBride  would  be  a  retrograde 
movement  and  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  federation 
of  the  Provinces  of  the  Dominion;  and  one  which,  if 
acceded  to,  might  readily  tend  to  confusion  and  even 
to  embarrassment. 

And  in  this  view  he  was  upheld  by  the  Dominion 
Government. 


414 


Provincial  Agents-General 

To  the  Honourable  Richard  McBride 

March  8th,  1907. 

Let  me  say  at  once  that  I  have  always  been  most 
willing  and  desirous,  both  officially  and  personally,  to 
further  the  interests  of  British  Columbia  in  common 
with  the  other  Provinces  of  the  Dominion,  by  every 
means  in  my  power;  but  if  Mr.  Turner  was  under  the 
impression  that  I  had  ever  given  expression  to  views 
favourable  to  an  extension  of  the  powers  of  the  Pro- 
vincial representatives  in  London,  he  was  certainly 
under  a  misapprehension. 

As  you  are  well  aware,  under  the  terms  of  the  British 
North  America  Act,  there  is  no  provision  for  such  repre- 
sentation as  is  sought,  and,  in  my  view,  any  extension 
of  the  present  principle  could  only  operate  unfavourably. 

Doubtless  you  have  given  much  attention  to  the 
matter,  and  will  be  well  aware  of  the  constitutional 
difference  between  the  States  of  Australia  and  that 
of  the  Provinces  of  Canada.  However  attractive  the 
status  of  the  representatives  in  London  of  the  several 
Australian  Governments  may  appear  to  be,  in  prac- 
tice it  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  worked  satisfactorily 
or  smoothly,  and  in  this  matter  Australia  is  confronted 
by  an  awkward  problem,  as  yet  unsolved,  but  un- 
doubtedly one  which  might  be  productive  of  great 
embarrassment;  and  I  do  not  think  the  interests  of 
Canada  would  be  promoted  by  retrograding  to  the 
condition  of  affairs  which  our  Australian  friends  have 
to  contend  with  and  which  they  regard  with  anything 
but  equanimity. 

I  have  delayed  answering  your  letter,  but  think  it 
well  now  to  write  to  you  thus  frankly.  Of  course 
the  matter  is  one  for  the  Government  of  Sir  Wilfrid 

415 


Lord  Strathcona 

Laurier  to  decide,  and  we  shall  doubtless  be  made 
aware,  in  due  time,  of  the  course  it  may  be  determined 
to  follow. 

What  that  decision  was,  may  be  gathered  from 
the  following  passage  in  Sir  Wilfrid's  subsequent 
letter: — 

Let  me  say  at  once  that  I  altogether  approve  of 
your  attitude  in  this  matter  and  I  absolutely  share 
the  views  you  have  expressed  to  Mr.  McBride. 

When  the  present  King,  then  Prince  of  Wales, 
visited  Quebec  in  1908  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Tercentenary  celebration,  there  was  some  anxiety 
lest  the  visit  should  be  marred  by  any  untoward 
incident.  More  than  ordinary  precautions  were 
deemed  necessary.  Police  officers  were  sent  to 
Quebec  more  than  three  weeks  ahead  of  the  Prince, 
so  that  they  might  have  time  to  pick  up  any  avail- 
able information. 

From  Sir  Edward  Henry 

May  3 1st,  1908. 

Under  ordinary  conditions  no  one  would  be  appre- 
hensive of  an  outrage  taking  place  on  Canadian  soil, 
but  as  Quebec  is  within  comparatively  easy  distance 
of  certain  centres  in  America  where  the  Clan-na-Gael 
flourishes,  an  organization  very  embittered  against  all 
British  institutions,  we  must  not  overlook  the  possi- 
bility of  the  prince's  visit  being  deemed  a  suitable 
opportunity  for  some  form  of  hostile  demonstration 
by  some  of  its  members. 

This  is  the  view  we  have  independently  formed,  and 

416 


His  Visit  to  Winnipeg 

as  the  same  view  is  held  by  our  Consulate  General  in 
New  York,  it  is  one  that  cannot  be  lightly  put  to  one 
side.  We  think  it  highly  advisable,  therefore,  that  all 
police  officers  should  be  on  the  alert  so  as  to  be  in- 
formed of  the  arrival  of  American  emissaries,  with  the 
object  of  keeping  them  under  really  effective  super- 
vision, thereby  frustrating  the  execution  of  any  plan 
they  may  have  formed. 

Luckily,  nothing  happened;  but  Lord  Strath- 
cona  himself,  on  his  visit  to  Quebec,  could  not  help 
being  reminded  of  former  occasions  when  fear 
of  the  Fenians  was  uppermost  in  the  minds  of 
Canadians. 

In  the  summer  of  1909  Lord  Strathcona  made  an 
extended  tour  of  Canada  with  two  of  his  grand- 
children, Mr.  Donald  Howard,  who  is  heir  to  his 
mother,  now  Baroness  Strathcona,  and  Miss  How- 
ard, now  Mrs.  Kitson.  They  travelled  from  coast 
to  coast,  and  made  many  side  expeditions.  In  Win- 
nipeg it  was  arranged  that  he  should  act  the  host 
while  the  British  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science  held  its  meeting  there  in  old  Fort 
Garry,  the  scene  of  so  many  years  of  his  labour. 
Rarely  in  history  has  a  populous  city  paid  so 
enthusiastic  a  tribute,  even  to  one  of  its  sons,  as 
was  paid  to  Lord  Strathcona  by  Winnipeg,  on  the 
occasion  of  this  visit.  Something,  of  course,  must 
be  allowed  for  the  natural  exuberance  of  the  youth- 
ful West,  but  when  all  is  conceded,  it  was  still  a 
unique  manifestation  of  personal  regard. 

On  the  evening  of  his  arrival  the  streets  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  station  were  choked  with  humanity ; 


Lord  Strathcona 

his  carriage  had  a  military  and  musical  escort,  and 
along  the  route,  two  miles  long,  from  the  station  to 
Government  House,  lit  up  by  electricity,  were 
cheering  multitudes.  For  several  days  the  popula- 
tion was  en  fete  in  his  honour.  Welcoming  banners 
hung  across  the  leading  thoroughfares  —  thousands 
daily  wanted  to  catch  merely  a  glimpse  of  the  white 
hair  and  benignant  features  of  the  object  of  their 
adoration.  Bevies  of  maidens  waited  on  him  with 
flowers.  At  the  banquets  and  public  receptions  his 
appearance  was  hailed  by  deafening  cheers,  followed 
by  a  wonderful  silence  when  he  opened  his  lips  to 
speak.  His  lightest  word  was  received  as  sanctified 
incense.  Every  movement  —  nay,  almost  every 
gesture  of  the  patriarchal  figure  was  chronicled  in 
the  newspapers.  Day  succeeded  day,  and  still  the 
populace  of  Winnipeg  did  not  tire  of  acclaiming 
"Strathcona!" 

Forty  years  before  he  had  entered  Fort  Garry 
almost  furtively  to  become  the  prisoner  of  Louis 
Kiel.  On  the  site  of  Fort  Garry  there  is  now  up- 
reared  a  noble  building,  ten  stories  high,  bearing 
its  name,  with  corridors  of  marble  and  replete  with 
beautiful  furniture  and  every  luxury.  How  great 
the  contrast  a  night's  lodging  here  to  the  wretched 
accommodation,  which,  in  1869,  was  the  lot  of 
Donald  Smith! 

Leaving  Winnipeg,  several  visits  were  made  to 
points  in  the  West,  including  British  Columbia, 
where  his  uncles,  John  and  Robert  Stuart,  had 
long  adventured.  During  one  of  these  expeditions 
in  the  Okanagan  Valley,  he  incurred  what  might 

418 


easily  have  been  a  serious  or  fatal  accident  to  one 
of  his  eighty-eight  years.  A  wagonette  and  a  pair 
of  horses  overturned  down  a  hill,  and  literally  shot 
the  four  or  five  occupants,  including  Lord  Strath- 
cona,  out  on  to  the  bank  and  field.  The  driver  had 
both  legs  broken.  Lord  Strathcona  was  quite  un- 
hurt, excepting  for  a  cut  and  strain  of  the  hand 
and  arm,  which  he  carried  in  a  sling  for  some  weeks 
afterwards. 

Lord  Strathcona  had  been  Canada's  High  Com- 
missioner in  the  United  Kingdom  for  a  full  decade, 
with  infinite  advantage  to  Canada  and  the  Empire. 

The  Duke  of  Argyll  to  the  Author 

KENSINGTON  PALACE. 
[2ist  April,  1906.] 

It  was  a  happy  thought  of  yours  to  mark  Lord 
Strathcona's  decade  as  High  Commissioner  by  a  testi- 
monial from  Canadians  living  in  London  and  I  hope 
it  will  be  taken  up.  He  has  done  so  much  for  others 
that  it  will  be  a  change  for  others  to  do  a  little  some- 
thing for  him. 

Having  canvassed  the  Anglo-Canadian  commu- 
nity, the  idea  was  duly  "  taken  up."  But  it  was  not 
until  the  autumn  of  the  following  year  that  the 
Duke  of  Argyll,  acting  on  behalf  of  the  sub- 
scribers, presented  to  his  lordship  a  beautifully 
executed  centre-piece  illustrative  of  the  various 
phases  of  his  career.  It  was  on  that  occasion 
recalled  with  interest  that  the  Duke  first  met  Lord 
Strathcona  thirty  years  before,  when  the  Mr. 
Donald  Smith  of  that  day  was  strenuously  engaged 

419 


Lord  Strathcona 

in  building  the  foundation  of  trade  and  commerce 
and  civil  administration  in  what  was  then  the 
untamed  wilderness  of  Manitoba,  of  whose  first 
Provincial  Legislature  he  was  a  prominent  member. 

It  was  in  this  year  that  he  made  a  splendid  gift 
for  the  benefit  of  the  young  people  of  the  Dominion. 
The  announcement  was  made  in  Parliament  by 
Sir  Frederick  Borden,  the  Minister  of  Militia,  that 
Lord  Strathcona  would  contribute  $250,000  to 
create  a  fund  of  $10,000  a  year  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  physical  and  military  training  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  Dominion.  Applause  greeted  the 
announcement  from  both  sides  of  the  House  and 
by  unanimous  resolution  the  thanks  of  Parliament 
and  the  people  of  Canada  were  tendered  to  the 
donor. 

In  conveying  the  gift,  he  wrote :  — 

To  Sir  Frederick  Borden 

While  I  attach  the  highest  importance  to  the  advan- 
tages of  physical  training  and  elementary  drill  for  all 
children  of  both  sexes,  I  am  particularly  anxious  that 
the  especial  value  of  military  drill,  including  rifle- 
shooting  for  boys  capable  of  using  rifles,  should  be 
constantly  borne  in  mind.  My  object  is  not  only  to 
help  to  improve  the  physical  and  intellectual  capabili- 
ties of  the  children  by  including  habits  of  alertness, 
orderliness,  and  prompt  obedience,  but  also  to  bring 
up  the  boys  to  patriotism,  and  to  the  realization  that 
the  first  duty  of  a  free  citizen  is  to  be  prepared  to 
defend  his  country.  The  Dominion  at  the  present  time, 
and  for  many  years  to  come,  can  hardly  hope  to  be 

420 


The  Strathcona  Trust 

able  to  give  so  long  a  period  of  training  to  her  military 
forces  as  by  itself  would  suffice  to  make  them  efficient 
soldiers,  but  if  all  boys  had  acquired  a  fair  acquaint- 
ance while  at  school  with  simple  drill  and  rifle-shooting, 
the  degree  of  efficiency  which  could  be  reached  in  the 
otherwise  short  period  which  can  be  devoted  to  the 
military  training  of  the  Dominion  forces  would,  in  my 
opinion,  be  enormously  enhanced.1 

Of  Sir  Robert  Baden-Powell's  Boy  Scout  Move- 
ment, he  said  it  was  "one  of  the  finest  plans  for 
the  betterment  of  the  race  that  has  been  evolved 
in  our  time." 

1  He  himself  was  four  times  a  colonel.  In  1898,  he  was  appointed 
honorary  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Victoria  Rifles,  Montreal,  a 
tribute  to  the  interest  he  had  taken  in  the  military  movement  in 
Canada.  In  1902,  he  became  honorary  colonel  of  the  Eighth  Volun- 
teer Battalion  of  the  King's  Liverpool  Regiment.  In  1909,  he 
was  honoured  by  being  made  honorary  colonel  of  the  Fifteenth 
Light  Horse,  and  in  1910,  he  received  the  honorary  colonelcy  of 
the  Seventy-ninth  Highlanders. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE  CLOSING   DAYS 
1910-1914 

IT  was  not  altogether  unnatural,  nor  indeed 
unexpected,  that  after  enjoying  so  long  a  term  of 
public  favour  as  the  most  popular  of  the  Colonies, 
a  reaction  should  supervene  in  some  quarters,  and 
that  Canada  should  suffer  occasional  detraction. 
Lord  Strathcona  was  so  jealous  of  Canada's  good 
name  that  every  such  attack  filled  him  with  indig- 
nation. "I  don't  care  what  they  say  of  myself," 
he  once  told  Mr.  Alfred  Lyttelton.  "I  am  accus- 
tomed to  abuse  and  to  having  my  character  as- 
sailed, although  I  get  less  and  less  of  this  as  I 
grow  older.  But  they  must  not  abuse  Canada 
while  I  am  alive  to  defend  her." 

To  him,  so  long  had  he  been  sounding  the 
praises  of  the  vast  Dominion,  of  her  mountains 
and  prairies,  her  railways,  her  wheat-fields,  her 
institutions  and  the  loyalty  of  her  people,  that 
he  grew  to  believe,  in  every  line  of  every  stanza, 
all  that  he  sang.  The  praises  of  Canada  on  a 
stranger's  lips  gave  him  as  much  pleasure  as  if  of 
himself  or  of  his  own  family  circle.  This  high 
ideal  of  patriotism  he  exacted  from  others. 


422 


His  Resentment  at  Calumny 

To  N.  F.  Damn,  M.P. 

I  do  not  think  Mr. ,  if  he  had  reflected  on  the 

effect  of  his  words,  would  have  uttered  them  at  this 
time.  However,  one  may  be  tempted  by  pique  or  a 
sense  of  neglect,  it  is  far  better  to  be  silent  than  to 
asperse  one's  own  country  amongst  strangers. 

Once  a  London  journal  published  an  unusually 
violent  attack,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract : 

Canada  is  at  this  moment  making  every  endeavour 
to  entice  young  able-bodied  Englishmen  to,  her  do- 
minions; her  agents  are  scouring  the  country  with 
specious  promises  and  glowing  reports,  which  are 
attracting  young  men  by  the  thousands  to  try  their 
luck  in  her  western  regions,  which  are  nothing  more  or 
less  than  death-traps  for  all  but  those  who  go  out  well 
provided  for.  Train-loads  of  raw  lads,  with  from  £10 
to  £100  in  their  pockets  as  their  sole  possession,  and 
the  barest  of  ordinary  outfits,  are  being  dumped  into 
her  western  towns.  In  these  towns  they  are  compelled 
to  stop  until  the  snow  and  slush  have  disappeared, 
perhaps  for  a  month  or  six  weeks,  or  longer,  the  cost  of 
living  alone  being  six  shillings  a  day.  The  majority  get 
to  the  end  of  their  resources  before  they  can  be  moved 
to  the  particular  claim  district  to  which  they  are  bound. 

Once  on  the  spot,  their  condition  is  pitiable  in  the 
extreme.  Penniless,  and  without  the  means  to  move 
their  small  belongings,  they  have  to  scour  a  vast  dis- 
trict in  semi-starvation  in  search  of  work  or  for  a  likely 
claim.  They  are  useless  for  skilled  work,  and  so  most 
homesteads  pass  them  by. 

At  first  Lord  Strathcona  was  so  angry  as  to  con- 
template taking  legal  action  at  once.  Afterwards 

423 


Lord  Strathcona 

he  thought  of  visiting  the  office  of  the  paper  and 
insisting  upon  an  immediate  disavowal  of  the  libel. 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

i6th  December,  1910. 

The  article  is  an  instance  of  journalistic  depravity 
much  to  be  deplored,  yet,  so  far,  at  any  rate,  I  can 
come  to  no  other  conclusion  in  regard  to  the  matter 
than  that  to  take  any  official  action  would  simply  serve 
the  ends  of  the  proprietors  of  the  journal  without  any 
corresponding  benefit  to  Canada,  and  would  only 
encourage  them  to  proceed  still  further  in  their  libel- 
lous course. 

I  am  bound  to  add,  however,  that  a  feeling  of  indig- 
nation in  regard  to  the  articles  has  been  aroused  in 
Canadian  circles,  and  should  you,  while  concurring 
generally  in  my  view,  think  that  some  action  ought  to 
be  taken,  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you  by  cable. 

The  trouble  is  that  Mr. of  course  knows  well 

that  a  nation  cannot  be  libelled  in  the  legal  sense,  and 
that  we  are  thus  debarred  from  taking  the  only  meas- 
ures to  which  a  gentleman  would  be  amenable. 

He  himself  was  constantly,  as  we  have  seen,  be- 
ing dragged  into  the  arena  of  party  politics  and 
more  than  once  was  obliged  to  issue  a  denial  of 
views  attributed  to  him  in  the  newspapers. 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

LONDON,  i6th  December,  1909. 

I  find  by  press  reports  that  my  name  is  used  in  refer- 
ence to  the  present  political  contest  in  the  United 
Kingdom.  It  is  well  known  in  this  country  that  I  am 

424 


Tenders  his  Resignation 

never  interviewed.  I  have  not  in  this  instance  departed 
from  this  rule  and  have  had  no  interview  with  any  one. 
If  I  had  any  opinion  to  express  on  the  present  contest 
I  would  claim  the  privilege  of  doing  it  in  my  own 
words,  but  I  would  consider  it  absolutely  out  of  place 
for  me  to  say  or  do  anything  which  might  be  considered 
ever  so  remotely  as  an  interference  in  any  party  contest 
now  before  the  electors  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 
Please  cause  this  to  be  published  in  such  manner  as 
you  think  best. 

For  some  time  —  ever  since  his  memorable  and 
triumphal  progress  through  the  West  —  he  had 
been  far  from  enjoying  his  usual  health.  The  injury 
to  his  right  arm  caused  by  the  accident  at  Vernon 
prevented  him  from  writing.  "  I  am  still  very  deaf," 
he  tells  Sir  Wilfrid,  toward  the  close  of  the  year, 
"from  the  effects  of  a  concussion  caused  by  the 
report  of  a  cannon  fired  at  a  short  distance  from 
my  ear  some  months  back."  He  decided  that  the 
time  had  at  last  come  for  him  to  resign  the  High 
Commissionership  and  he  wrote  to  this  effect  to  the 
Prime  Minister.  In  reply  Sir  Wilfrid  earnestly 
begged  him  to  reconsider  his  decision. 

From  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

I5th  March,  1910. 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  favour  of  the  5th  instant 
wherein  you  express  the  desire  to  be  relieved  as  High 
Commissioner  for  Canada,  on  the  1st  of  July  next.  I 
keep  this  letter  to  myself  and  will  not  communicate  it 
to  anybody  until  I  hear  again  from  you  that  it  is  your 
absolute  and  settled  determination. 

425 


Lord  Strathcona 

In  the  mean  time  let  me  express  the  hope  that  you 
will  reconsider  the  question.  I  make  due  allowance 
for  the  fact  that  you  may  desire  at  your  time  of  life  to 
be  disconnected  with  the  duties  of  the  office.  Permit 
me  to  observe,  however,  that  your  resignation  will  be 
the  cause  in  Canada  of  universal  regret,  and  I  still  hope 
that  you  may  defer  this  determination. 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

LONDON,  8th  April,  1910. 

For  your  most  kind  letter  of  the  I5th,  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  mine  of  the  5th  March  last,  I  thank  you  very 
much,  and  very  cordially  do  I  appreciate  the  terms  in 
which  you  refer  to  my  desire  to  be  relieved  as  High 
Commissioner  for  Canada,  on  the  1st  of  July  next. 

I  have  felt  it  the  more  desirable  that  the  date  of 
demitting  my  present  charge  should  not  be  left  alto- 
gether indefinite,  as  I  am  still  inconvenienced  and 
suffering  somewhat  from  the  effects  of  the  accident 
to  my  right  arm  at  Vernon,  in  September  last,  and 
of  a  subsequent  slighter  injury  to  the  other  arm  from 
a  motor  collision  here. 

It  is,  however,  needless  for  me  to  say  that  I  am 
truly  grateful  for  your  consideration  and  kindness  to 
me  now  as  on  all  occasions,  and  in  deference  to  your 
wish  that  I  will  reconsider  the  question,  I  would  sug- 
gest that  instead  of  the  1st  of  July,  my  resignation 
should  take  effect  at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  3ist 
March,  1911,  or  with  the  close  of  the  present  calendar 
year  3ist  December,  as  may  be  most  convenient  for 
you  in  appointing  my  successor. 

A  few  weeks  later  King  Edward  died.  'The 
loss,"  he  wrote  on  the  day  of  the  King's  death, 

426 


«  Dear  Old  Uncle  Donald  >! 

"sustained  by  the  Empire  by  the  death  of  His 
Majesty  would  have  been  heavy  in  any  circum- 
stances, but,  coming  as  it  does  at  this  juncture  of 
affairs,  it  is  indeed  a  great  calamity." 

For  Edward  VII  Lord  Strathcona  had  always 
a  great  personal  regard,  and  this  was  reciprocated 
by  the  Sovereign,  who  had  long  been  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  career  of  "dear  old  Uncle  Donald,"  as 
he  affectionately  spoke  of  him.  "  Here  comes  Uncle 
Donald,"  His  Majesty  once  exclaimed,  seeing  the 
High  Commissioner  approach  at  a  garden  party, 
but  without  his  wife,  "but  where  is  'Our  Lady  of 
the  Snows'?" 

Between  Queen  Alexandra  and  Lord  Strathcona 
the  bond  of  personal  affection  and  of  veneration,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  of  a  chivalrous  loyalty,  on  the 
other,  was  very  noticeable. 

For  some  years,  owing  to  the  "  tariff  war,"  fol- 
lowing on  the  denunciation  in  1897,  at  Canada's 
instance,  of  the  existing  commercial  treaty,  rela- 
tions between  Germany  and  Canada  had  not  been 
friendly.  This  era  seemed  now  over,  and  in  Octo- 
ber, 1910,  Lord  Strathcona  again  visited  Germany 
to  take  part  in  the  Berlin  celebrations  which  marked 
the  centenary  of  the  leading  university  of  Germany. 
Every  university  of  mark  throughout  the  world 
sent  its  representative;  to  few,  if  any,  was  more 
honour  paid  than  to  the  nonagenarian  who  com- 
bined the  Chancellorships  of  McGill  and  Aberdeen 
with  the  High  Commissionership  for  Canada  in 
Europe.  Lord  Strathcona  was  the  bearer  of  cordial 
greetings  from  the  Canadian  university  to  the  seat 

427 


Lord  Strathcona 

of  learning  which  began  its  career  when  the  Prus- 
sian capital  was  in  the  occupation  of  French  troops. 
As  the  Chancellor  of  Aberdeen  University,  Lord 
Strathcona  had  also  had  the  pleasing  task  of  laying 
a  memorial  wreath  sent  by  that  university  upon 
the  statue  in  the  Wilhelmsplatz  of  Field  Marshal 
James  Keith,  one  of  Frederick  the  Great's  officers, 
a  Scotsman,  who,  from  1711  to  1715,  was  a  college 
student  at  Aberdeen. 

Being,  moreover,  the  senior  representative  pres- 
ent, he  was  selected  as  the  spokesman  for  the  uni- 
versities of  the  United  Kingdom  and  the  Empire 
as  a  whole,  and  on  their  behalf  conveyed  to  the 
Berlin  authorities  a  message  of  cordial  greetings 
and  congratulations. 

He  could  not  but  be  aware,  while  in  Berlin,  of  the 
striking  prepossession  of  the  governing  classes  for 
war,  even  in  the  midst  of  profound  European 
peace;  but  expressed  the  hope,  in  one  of  his  letters, 
that  the  military  skill  and  resources  of  the  German 
people  would  never  be  put  to  the  test.  While  he 
had  confidence  in  the  power  and  wish  of  the 
Emperor  for  peace,  he  thought  that  after  him  any 
danger  there  was  lay  with  the  Junker  party,  led  by 
the  Crown  Prince.  But  these  hot-headed  young 
men  would  grow  mature,  and  after  all  it  was  "so 
obvious  that  Germany's  best  interests  now  would 
be  served  by  peace  and  industrial  activity." 

On  a  wintry  day  at  the  beginning  of  January, 
1911,  he  journeyed  down  to  Westerham,  in  Kent, 
in  defiance  of  his  doctor's  orders,  to  participate  in 
the  ceremony  of  the  unveiling,  by  Lord  Roberts,  of 

428 


The  Taft- Fielding  Agreement 

the  statue  to  General  Wolfe.1  For  an  hour  he  stood 
bareheaded  in  the  open  air  on  a  platform,  occa- 
sionally swept  by  sleet,  and  afterwards  spoke  at  a 
public  luncheon,  proposing  Lord  Roberts's  health. 

To-day  we  have  Canada  before  us  all  in  this  memo- 
rial of  the  services  rendered  by  Wolfe  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago.  It  is,  perhaps,  somewhat  humiliating 
to  us  that  those  services  have  not  been  so  recognized 
earlier,  as  they  ought  to  have  been,  for  did  not  Wolfe's 
victory  give  to  Great  Britain  the  Dominion  of  Canada 
as  the  first  nation  within  the  Empire?  Lord  Roberts 
[he  added]  was  himself  one  of  those  great  captains  who 
have  given  us  an  Empire  within  an  Empire  in  India  — 
and  the  name  of  Lord  Roberts  will  ever  continue  to  be 
with  us  a  household  word. 

Deeply  did  he  regret  the  fatal  step  taken  by  the 
Laurier  Ministry,  early  in  1911,  in  connection  with 
commercial  reciprocity  with  America.  He  saw  in- 
stantly that,  regarded  as  Canada's  national  policy, 
the  step  was  a  backward  one.  Yet  he  strove  loyally 
to  put  the  best  face  on  the  matter  of  which  it  was 
capable. 

Canada  is  free  [he  pointed  out]  to  do  anything  she 
may  desire,  by  legislation,  in  respect  of  British  pref- 
erence. The  agreement  does  not  prevent  her  in  any 
way  from  doing  that.  It  is  not  in  the  form  of  a  treaty ; 
but  assurances  of  concurrent  legislation  are  mutually 
given,  and  while  the  reductions  made  by  Canada  are 
comparatively  small,  those  made  by  the  United  States, 
owing  to  their  high  tariff,  are  very  considerable. 

1  He  had  early  joined  a  committee  of  which  I  was  secretary, 
and  together  with  Lord  Roberts  had  personally  assisted  in  drafting 
an  appeal  to  the  nation  on  behalf  of  a  memorial  to  Wolfe. 

429 


Lord  Strathcona 

I  repeat  that  the  agreement  does  not,  and  will  not, 
prevent  Canada  from  making  any  preferential  ar- 
rangements with  the  Mother  Country  or  with  any  of 
the  overseas  dominions  which  she  may  consider  de- 
sirable. 

In  no  sense  will  the  ultimate  effect  of  the  agreement 
be  to  weaken  the  bonds  which  unite  Canada  to  the 
Empire.  The  arrangements  on  the  Canadian  side  apply 
to  articles  which  are  obtained  mainly  from  the  United 
States,  and  only  in  one  or  two  classes  from  England. 

Nevertheless,  as  the  Liberal  plan  of  campaign 
developed,  an  opposition  arose  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  Canada  to  the  Taft-Fielding 
proposals,  amongst  which  nearly  all  Lord  Strath- 
cona's  former  commercial  associates  in  the  Domin- 
ion were  numbered.  Yet  even  then  he  permitted  no 
expression  of  opinion  of  his  to  appear.  He  indig- 
nantly cabled  to  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  in  March :  — 

To  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 

nth  March,  1911. 

The  statement  attributed  to  me  by  Mr.  Goodeve  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  Ottawa,  on  the  9th  instant, 
as  reported  in  to-day's  London  Times  by  their  Ottawa 
correspondent,  that  I  had  said  "that  the  Canadian 
Ministers  had  been  hypnotized  by  the  brilliance  of  the 
American  offer  and  had  fallen  into  a  trap,"  is  entirely 
baseless  and  without  foundation  in  fact.  It  is  un- 
warranted by  anything  I  have  ever  said  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Reciprocity  Agreement,  which  I  have 
refrained  from  discussing.  Will  you  kindly  make  this 
known  in  the  House? 

430 


Laurier  Ministry  falls 

Reluctantly,  at  last,  at  the  Dominion  Day 
Banquet  in  that  year,  at  which  H.R.H.  the  Duke  of 
Connaught  made  his  appearance  as  Governor- 
General,  designated  to  succeed  Earl  Grey,  did 
Lord  Strathcona  allow  Sir  Wilfrid  to  announce  his 
resignation  of  the  post  of  High  Commissioner  which 
he  had  held  for  fifteen  years :  — 

I  shall  never  forget  the  general  blank  looks  of  con- 
cern and  dismay  which  greeted  that  announcement 
[recalls  Major-General  Hughes],  I  went  to  him  after- 
wards and  told  him  in  the  strongest  terms,  he  should 
not  —  must  not,  resign.  "But,"  he  said,  deprecat- 
ingly,  "they  want  my  resignation,  do  they  not?  I  am 
now  nearly  ninety-one.  It  is  fitting  that  I  should  make 
way  for  a  younger  man."  I  told  his  lordship  that  no 
one  in  Canada  wanted  him  to  resign  —  that  his 
resignation  would  be  a  national  calamity,  and  that  in 
any  case  he  must  await  the  issue  of  the  impending 
elections. 

The  Canadian  elections  duly  took  place  in 
September.  Lord  Strathcona  took  the  liveliest  in- 
terest in  the  progress  of  the  campaign,  especially 
the  appearance  of  his  friend,  Sir  William  Van  Home, 
in  the  role  of  political  orator,  for  the  ex-President 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  in  company  with 
many  other  eminent  men  of  affairs,  exerted  all 
their  powers  of  persuasion  to  prevent  the  conclusion 
of  a  pact  which  seemed  to  them  inimical  to  the 
present  and  future  welfare  of  Canada. 

On  the  2 ist,  the  issue  was  decided  against  the 
Laurier  Government,  which  had  been  in  power  since 
1896.  A  few  days  later  and  the  Ministers  tendered 


Lord  Strathcona 

their  portfolios  to  the  Governor-General,  Earl  Grey, 
who  called  upon  Mr.  Robert  Laird  Borden  to  form 
a  Ministry. 

Scarcely  was  the  result  known  than  the  High 
Commissioner  undertook  a  trip  to  Canada  to  salute 
the  new  Prime  Minister  and  to  place  his  office  at 
his  disposal.  Concerning  his  official  relations  with 
Lord  Strathcona,  Sir  Robert  Borden  writes  me :  — 

When  I  visited  London,  while  leader  of  the  Oppo- 
sition in  1909,  he  was  most  kind  and  attentive  in  every 
way.  I  was  struck  at  that  time  with  an  almost  pathetic 
earnestness  in  the  discharge  of  even  the  minor  duties 
of  his  office.  To  this  I  alluded  in  speaking  in  the 
House  of  Commons  upon  the  occasion  of  his  death. 

Returning  to  London  after  a  garden  party  and 
dinner  at  some  distance  in  the  country,  I  found  that 
Lord  Strathcona  had  called  on  me  in  Brown's  Hotel 
and  was  then  engaged  with  the  Honourable  Frank 
Oliver.  Having  sent  word  to  him  that  I  had  returned, 
I  was  shortly  afterwards  informed  that  he  would  like 
to  see  me;  and  going  downstairs  at  midnight  I  had  a 
long  conversation  with  him,  in  the  course  of  which  I 
learned  that  he  was  engaged  in  a  somewhat  acrimoni- 
ous correspondence  with  the  Lord  Chamberlain  re- 
specting an  invitation  for  myself  and  my  wife  for  the 
approaching  State  Ball.  As  you  are  aware,  no  person 
is  entitled  to  be  invited  to  such  a  ball  unless  he  or  she 
had  first  been  presented;  and  my  wife  and  I  had  not 
enjoyed  that  honour.  But  Lord  Strathcona  had  taken 
the  ground  that,  in  view  of  my  position  as  leader  of  a 
political  party  in  Canada,  this  prerequisite  should  not 
be  insisted  upon.  It  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty 
that  I  induced  him  to  forego  any  further  effort  or  corre- 

432 


Mr.  Robert  Borden 

spondence;  and  he  acceded  to  my  wish  only  after  he 
had  become  convinced  that  my  wife  and  I  earnestly 
desired  to  go  for  a  proposed  holiday  in  the  country. 

During  my  visit  as  Prime  Minister  in  1912  he  was 
in  evidence  on  every  occasion.  He  met  us  at  the 
station  upon  our  arrival  in  London;  he  regularly 
called  upon  us  at  our  hotel ;  when  I  left  London  to  visit 
Paris,  I  found  him  (to  my  great  astonishment)  waiting 
for  me  at  the  hotel  door  early  in  the  morning  in  order 
to  accompany  me  to  the  train.  On  that  occasion  he  re- 
proached me  for  not  having  given  him  formal  notice  of 
my  departure ;  and  he  seemed  to  feel  that  his  failure  to 
attend  would  have  been  almost  a  disgrace.  He  was  so 
earnest  on  the  subject  that  when  I  returned  from  Paris, 
I  gave  him  by  telegraph  the  formal  notice  which  he 
desired,  and  of  course  I  found  him  again  at  the  station 
to  meet  us. 

During  the  autumn  before  his  death  he  visited 
Canada  and  I  discussed  with  him  then,  as  well  as  in  the 
summer  of  1912,  his  continuance  as  High  Commis- 
sioner. On  both  occasions  I  strongly  urged  him  to  con- 
tinue the  discharge  of  his  duties,  and  I  offered  him  an 
additional  secretary  or  secretaries  to  be  selected  by 
himself,  and  otherwise  I  assured  him  that  any  arrange- 
ments to  lighten  his  labours  would  be  willingly  made 
by  the  Government.  At  my  most  earnest  request  he 
continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  high  office. 

To  Honourable  Robert  L.  Borden 

LONDON,  iQth  October,  1912. 

We  all  felt  sure  that  your  welcome  back  to  Canada 
would  be  of  the  warmest  character  throughout,  seeing 
how  worthily  the  Dominion  was  represented  during 
your  stay  here. 

433 


Lord  Strathcona 

I  can  quite  understand  that  the  large  accumulation 
of  public  business  during  your  absence  will  occupy  you 
very  closely  for  some  weeks,  and  I  cannot  think  of 
troubling  you  with  more  than  a  few  words  at  the 
present  moment. 

To  my  wife  and  myself  it  was  a  great  disappoint- 
ment that  we  had  not  the  pleasure  of  welcoming  you 
in  our  Scottish  home  of  Glencoe,  but  we  knew  how 
impossible  it  was  for  you  to  put  aside  even  for  a  day 
or  two  the  exacting  work  which  occupied  you  during 
your  whole  stay  in  England;  and  we  can  only  hope 
that  we  may  be  more  fortunate  when  next  you  cross 
the  Atlantic,  and  that  Mrs.  Borden  and  you  may  then 
be  able  to  stay  with  us  for  a  few  days. 

In  the  following  month  he  writes  with  reference 
to  the  commemoration,  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  of 
the  one-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  death  of  Sir 
Isaac  Brock,  the  hero  of  Queenstown  Heights:  — 

The  presence  of  so  many  distinguished  men  on  the 
occasion  shows  that  Canada  is  now  much  more  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  of  the  United  Kingdom  than  it 
ever  was  before,  and  that,  as  you  so  well  observe,  the 
great  event  commemorated  is  regarded  as  having  a 
profound  influence  on  the  destiny  of  the  Dominion  as 
an  integral  part  of  the  Empire. 

At  the  Royal  Society  of  Arts,  Adelphi,  London, 
on  November  15,  1912,  Lord  Sanderson,  on  behalf 
of  the  Duke  of  Connaught,  president  of  the  society, 
presented  the  society's  Albert  Medal  to  Lord  Strath- 
cona, "  for  his  services  in  improving  the  railway  com- 
munications, developing  the  resources,  and  pro- 

434 


Imperial  Naval  Assistance 

moting  the  commerce  and  industry  of  Canada  and 
other  parts  of  the  British  Empire." 

Lord  Sanderson  read  a  message  from  the  Duke  of 
Connaught  in  which  His  Royal  Highness  said :  — 

In  my  present  office  of  Governor-General  of  Canada 
I  have  had  special  opportunities  of  fully  realizing  the 
great  services  Lord  Strathcona  has  rendered  to  the 
Dominion,  and  to  the  industrial  and  commercial  prog- 
ress of  the  British  Empire.  As  an  old  friend  of  many 
years'  standing  I  rejoiced  that,  as  president  of  the 
Society  of  Arts,  I  had  been  able  to  add  another  mark 
of  appreciation  of  his  long  and  valuable  career  of  use- 
fulness. 

No  one  was  more  rejoiced  than  Lord  Strathcona 
at  the  announcement  by  the  new  Prime  Minister  of 
a  measure  of  assistance  to  the  Imperial  navy. 

To  the  Honourable  R.  L.  Borden 

7th  December,  1912. 

Your  announcement  of  Canada's  Naval  Emergency 
Policy  has  naturally  been  of  profound  interest.  Mr. 
Bonar  Law,  M.P.,  has  given  notice  that  in  the  House 
of  Commons  on  Monday,  the  Qth  instant,  he  will  ask 
"when  the  Government  will  afford  the  House  a  suit- 
able opportunity  of  expressing  its  deep  appreciation 
of  the  public  spirit  and  patriotism  displayed  by  His 
Majesty's  Dominions  overseas  in  contributing  toward 
the  efficiency  of  Imperial  defence." 

No  doubt  a  sympathetic  answer  will  be  given  and 
an  opportunity  afforded  for  the  House  of  Commons  to 
express  its  appreciation  of  Canada's  splendid  gift. 

435 


Lord  Strathcona 
To  the  Honourable  R.  L.  Borden 

4th  February,  1913. 

As  you  are  aware,  the  attention  of  the  public  during 
recent  months  has  been  called  rather  persistently,  by 
the  press  and  by  the  speeches  of  prominent  men,  to  the 
extent  to  which  Canada  has  been  drawing  money  from 
this  country.  Lord  Faber  complains  of  the  neglect  of 
gilt-edged  securities  at  home.  During  last  month  over 
forty  millions  sterling  had  been  found  for  new  com- 
panies, against  twenty-two  millions  in  January  last 
year,  and  twenty  millions  in  January,  1911,  and  only 
five  millions  had  been  placed  in  this  country.  Twenty- 
nine  millions  had  gone  to  the  Colonies  and  ten  millions 
to  foreigners.  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  twenty-nine 
millions  had  gone  to  Canada.  He  did  not  want  to 
be  an  alarmist,  because  he  had  a  great  opinion  of 
Canada,  but  there  should  be  a  moderation  in  all  things. 
As  an  illustration  of  the  position  he  mentioned,  a  cer- 
tain bank  had  to  collect  a  bill  of  about  five  hundred 
pounds  from  a  Canadian  corporation,  and  the  bill 
came  back  unpaid,  with  a  request  that  it  should  be 
presented  again  when  the  corporation  had  obtained  the 
proceeds  of  a  loan  from  England.  It  was  a  very  serious 
matter.  Certain  financial  papers  have  suggested  that 
it  was  good  for  trade  to  have  money  invested  abroad, 
but  we  ought  first  to  see  that  we  had  sufficient  money 
for  the  home  trade  without  a  high  bank  rate.  No 
doubt  new  taxes  and  the  fear  of  war,  which  he  hoped 
would  never  take  place,  had  driven  capital  away  from 
this  country. 

The  position  of  Canada  here  at  present  is  rather 
susceptible  to  adverse  rumours  and  requires  careful 
attention. 

436 


New  Critical  Attitude 

In  truth,  proof  was  almost  daily  forthcoming 
that  the  old  days  of  unquestioned  acceptance,  when 
the  great  Dominion  ("the  Mayfair  of  the  Colo- 
nies") bounded  fresh  and  blooming  into  the  hearts 
and  stock-markets  of  Britain,  were  now  over.  Yet 
his  sanguine  faith  continued  as  ever. 

The  Honourable  W.  T.  White  to  the  Honourable 
R.  L.  Borden 

OTTAWA,  February  18,  1913. 

I  return  herewith  Lord  Strathcona's  letter  of  the 
4th  instant,  which  I  have  read  with  much  interest.  I 
still  hold  the  view,  notwithstanding  Lord  Faber's 
opinion,  that  the  money  stringency  will  gradually 
abate,  and,  while  there  may  be  a  wholesome  check 
for  some  months,  that  in  due  course  British  capital 
will  be  attracted  here  in  as  large  or  larger  volume  than 
in  the  past. 

To  the  Honourable  R.  L.  Borden 

2 ist  February,  1913. 

An  anonymous  letter  has  appeared  in  the  Economist 
dealing  unfairly  with  the  question  of  Canadian  crops 
and  wheat  production.  It  puts  forward  official  figures 
showing  decreased  acreage  under  field  crops  and  wheat 
—  asserts  land  is  going  out  of  cultivation.  The  answer 
to  this  could  be  that  over  a  million  and  a  quarter  acres 
of  fall  wheat  and  hay  and  clover  meadows  were  winter- 
killed and  that  considerable  areas  hitherto  devoted 
to  wheat  were  diverted  last  year  to  oats,  barley,  and 
flax. 

To  disclose  these  facts  in  an  official  communica- 
tion controverting  the  Economist  and  disclosing  the 

437 


Lord  Strathcona 

extent  of  the  area  of  winter-killed  wheat  might  be 
even  more  prejudicial  to  Canada  than  the  statement  of 
the  Economist,  which,  although  an  important  paper, 
has  only  limited  circulation.  The  position  here  is  del- 
icate —  quantities  of  undigested  municipal  and  other 
securities  not  alone  Canadian  are  causing  embarrass- 
ment to  underwriters;  and  in  my  view  there  is  danger 
that  an  official  communication  might  precipitate  an 
unfortunate  controversy.  Canadian  interests  gener- 
ally are  in  satisfactory  position  —  the  prospects  of 
British  emigration  indicate  that  the  available  trans- 
portation facilities  will  be  taxed  to  the  utmost  during 
the  coming  season.  Therefore,  while  recognizing  the 
seriousness  of  the  attack  in  the  Economist,  after  careful 
consideration  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  we  had 
better  refrain  from  officially  controverting  it;  but  I 
would  greatly  appreciate  an  expression  of  your  view. 

Mr.  Borden  wrote:  — 

My  colleagues,  and  I,  entirely  concur  in  your  view 
respecting  the  anonymous  letter  in  the  Economist.  Any 
official  answer  or  explanation  is  quite  inadvisable. 

Lord  Strathcona  wrote  later:  — 

; 

It  seemed  fairly  clear  that  the  author  of  the  letter 

had  written  with  animus,  and  as  the  Economist  is  one 
of  the  leading  financial  journals  here,  it  was  not  a 
matter  which  could  be  passed  over  unconsidered.  I 
came  to  the  conclusion,  however,  that  the  explanation, 
owing  to  its  nature  and  the  fact  that  it  would  be  given 
in  an  official  communication,  would  be  more  harmful 
than  the  anonymous  letter,  as  it  might  not  only  pro- 
voke a  controversy,  but  would  probably  be  widely 
quoted  by  other  journals  and  newspapers,  and  thus 

438 


Defends  Canada's  Credit 

give  great  prominence  to  an  abnormal  condition  the 
knowledge  of  which  would  otherwise  be  confined  to  a 
very  limited  number.  I  am  glad  to  learn  that  you  and 
your  colleagues  agree  in  thinking  it  best  to  allow  the 
attack  to  pass  unanswered. 

He  was  equally  concerned  when  a  statement 
appeared  in  a  London  daily  paper  to  the  effect 
that  the  Prime  Minister  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada 
had  come  to  an  understanding  with  the  leaders  of 
the  Unionist  Party  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  regard 
to  the  fiscal  policy  of  the  latter  country. 

This  statement  [he  wrote]  was  so  foreign  to  what  I 
believed  to  be  the  truth  that  an  early  opportunity  was 
taken  of  placing  the  matter  before  Mr.  Borden,  and  I 
send  you  a  copy  of  a  letter  I  have  received  from  him 
on  the  question.  In  the  political  development  of  the 
Empire  in  recent  years  no  principle  has  become  more 
firmly  established  than  that  each  Dominion  should 
be  entirely  untrammelled  in  the  management  of  its 
affairs. 

From  the  Honourable  R.  L.  Borden 

OTTAWA,  January  20,  1913. 

I  beg  to  acknowledge  your  letter  of  January  3, 
respecting  the  controversy  which  has  arisen  in  the 
United  Kingdom  respecting  the  policy  of  food  taxes, 
in  the  course  of  which  assertion  has  been  made  that 
I  had  entered  into  some  understanding,  arrangement, 
or  agreement  with  the  leaders  of  the  Unionist  Party 
in  respect  to  that  question.  I  hardly  need  to  assure 
you  that  any  such  assertion  is  most  absolutely  and 
unqualifiedly  untrue.  Inasmuch  as  the  fiscal  policy 

439 


Lord  Strathcona 

of  the  United  Kingdom  is  a  question  of  domestic  con- 
cern, we  most  carefully  refrained  from  discussing  the 
subject  in  public  and  from  any  arrangement,  under- 
standing, or  agreement  with  either  party  thereon. 

The  extraordinary  vigour  and  industry  of  Lord 
Strathcona' s  old  age  had  become  proverbial.  He 
was  accustomed  to  attend  at  his  office  in  Victoria 
Street,  for  many  hours  daily,  whenever  in  or  near 
London.  ''I  have  breakfast  at  9  A.M.  and  din- 
ner at  9  P.M.,"  he  would  say,  "and  that  gives  me 
eleven  hours  daily  for  work."  He  was  a  constant 
diner-out,  both  publicly  and  privately,  but  ate  and 
drank  always  very  sparingly.  His  watchword  was 
"duty"  and  he  systematically  did  it  as  quietly  as 
possible,  never  losing  his  temper  or  "fussing." 

He  never  ceased  work,  and  one  of  the  many 
stories  told  of  him  related  to  an  occasion  in  1906 
when  he  had  been  advised  to  give  himself  a  rest 
from  his  labours. 

"You  will  be  gratified  to  learn,"  Sir  Thomas 
Shaughnessy  told  an  Anglo-Canadian  gathering  in 
London,  "that,  yielding  to  the  earnest  entreaties 
of  Sir  Thomas  Barlow,  Lord  Strathcona  has 
decided  to  relax  his  energies.  He  has  succumbed 
to  the  united  pressure  of  his  medical  man,  his 
family,  and  his  friends,  and  has  been  induced  to 
promise  to  leave  his  office  at  7.30  each  evening 
instead  of  7.45." 

His  habit  of  long  hours  became  so  well  known, 
that  amongst  the  other  Colonial  Government 
offices  in  Victoria  Street  that  of  Canada  was  called 
"The  Lighthouse,"  because  a  light  was  to  be  seen 

440 


Work  and  Duty 

burning  in  his  room  long  after  other  premises  were 
shrouded  in  darkness. 

Work  and  duty  might  be  considered  the  two 
predominating  keynotes  of  his  life.  He  himself 
said,  indeed,  that  hard  work  was  the  best  tonic  a 
man  could  have.  "When  he  has  his  duty  to  do,  he 
has  n't  time  to  think  of  himself,  nor  to  allow  him- 
self any  indulgences  which  will  make  him  slack  and 
spoil  him  for  good  work."  And  so  Lord  Strathcona 
kept  the  Spartan  tenor  of  his  way. 

Repeatedly  had  he  offered  his  resignation  to  the 
Government :  his  family  and  friends  ardently  wished 
him  to  retire.  To  their  solicitation  was  added  that 
of  his  physician.  His  life-work  was  over.  "It  is 
good,"  says  the  Dutch  proverb,  "for  a  man  to  end 
his  life  ere  he  die." 

To  the  Honourable  R.  L.  Borden 

LONDON,  8th  February,  1913. 

Deeply  sensible  am  I  of  the  very  kind  and  far  too 
indulgent  terms  in  which,  in  your  confidential  letter  of 
the  I  Qth  December,  you  refer  to  my  services  as  High 
Commissioner,  and  ask  me  to  dismiss  from  my  mind 
the  idea  of  retiring  which  I  submitted  to  you  when  you 
were  last  in  London.  You  with  much  generosity  offer 
to  give  me  any  additional  clerical  or  other  assistance 
I  might  desire  which  would  make  my  duties  less  exact- 
ing and  less  onerous. 

But  the  fact  really  is  that,  since  I  entered  the  High 
Commissioner's  Office  in  1896,  the  course  of  events 
have  been  such  that  Canada  has  become  far  better 
known  and  is  now  so  thoroughly  in  the  minds  of  the 

441 


Lord  Strathcona 

people  that,  although  the  volume  of  work  has  largely 
increased,  the  duties  are  really  much  less  exacting 
than  they  then  were,  and  the  staff,  which  has  been 
considerably  increased,  is,  as  it  at  present  exists,  quite 
capable  of  coping  with  the  requirements.  Let  me  say 
that,  in  deference  to  the  earnest  insistence  of  my 
medical  adviser,  Sir  Thomas  Barlow,  I  tendered  my 
resignation  on  two  occasions  to  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier 
when  he  was  Premier,  and  at  my  request  Sir  Wilfrid 
announced  this  at  the  Dominion  Day  Dinner  in 
London  on  the  3Oth  June,  1911.  The  resignation  then 
tendered  has  never  been  withdrawn,  but  when  I  met 
you  in  Ottawa  on  the  2d  October,  1911,  you,  as 
Premier,  in  the  most  kind  words  did  me  the  honour  of 
asking  me  to  retain  office,  and  I  gladly  consented  to 
discharge  the  duties  until  it  might  be  convenient  for 
you  to  appoint  my  successor,  and  so  it  has  stood  ever 
since.  Almost  a  year  ago,  I  was  very  seriously  ill,  and 
as  Sir  Thomas  Barlow  has  been  even  more  insistent 
than  before  that  I  should  give  up  much  of  the  work 
that  I  now  have  in  hand,  I  feel  that  I  ought  to  act  on 
his  advice.  I  shall  therefore  be  greatly  indebted  to 
you  if  you  will  kindly  relieve  me  from  the  duties  of 
the  office  in  May  next,  when  I  shall  have  served  seven- 
teen years.  Permit  me  at  the  same  time  to  give  ex- 
pression to  my  deep  sense  of  gratitude  to  yourself  and 
to  the  members  of  your  Cabinet,  as  well  as  to  Sir 
Wilfrid  Laurier  and  his  colleagues,  for  the  unvarying 
kindness  and  consideration  and  ever  ready  advice  and 
support  you  and  they  have  extended  to  me  throughout 
my  long  term  of  service,  a  service  in  the  interests  of 
Canada  which  has  been  to  me  one  of  love. 


442 


Proposed  Canadian  Building 

To  the  Honourable  R.  L.  Borden 

LONDON,  March  22d,  1913. 

Am  indeed  deeply  moved  by  your  most  kind  and 
far  too  indulgent  message  of  the  3d  instant  in  reply  to 
my  telegram  of  3d  February.  Looking  to  your  great 
kindness  and  consideration,  I  feel  that  instead  of 
retiring  in  May  next,  I  should  meet  your  wish  that  I 
defer  relinquishing  the  duties  of  High  Commissioner 
until  an  opportunity  offers  of  a  personal  interview  with 
you,  and  to  this  I  very  gladly  accede.  Let  me  assure 
you  how  sincerely  I  appreciate  your  own  and  your 
colleagues'  kind  remembrances  and  warm  wishes  for 
my  health  and  strength,  and  that  these  are  most 
earnestly  reciprocated  on  my  part. 

Amongst  the  last  —  indeed,  as  it  chanced  to  be, 
the  very  last  —  of  the  many  projects  he  had  in 
hand  when  he  came  to  be  stricken  down,  was  the 
acquisition  of  a  suitable  site  for  the  erection  of  a 
building  to  house  the  High  Commissioner's  Office 
and  all  the  Dominion's  interests  in  London  under 
one  roof.  For  upwards  of  a  year  the  matter  had 
been  in  agitation.  Personally,  he  desired  no  change. 
The  offices  in  Victoria  Street,  sombre  and  in- 
adequate and  wholly  unsuggestive  of  Canada  as 
they  were,  had  become  endeared  to  him  by  years 
of  association.  Yet  if  a  change  were  deemed  neces- 
sary, he  wished  the  new  offices  to  be  close  to  the 
Parliament  buildings,  and  in  dignified  keeping  with 
the  position  Canada  had  attained  in  the  Empire. 
In  June,  1912,  two  emissaries  of  the  Canadian 
Government  arrived  in  London,  the  Honourable 

443 


Lord  Strathcona 

George  Foster,  M.P.,  and  Sir  Edmund  Osier,  M.P. 
They  found  him  still  in  bed,  but  ready  to  propose 
that  his  first  outing,  after  several  months'  seclusion, 
should  be  devoted,  with  them,  to  the  search  of  a 
site. 

To  the  Honourable  Robert  L.  Borden 

I5th  June,  1912. 

My  recovery  from  the  serious  illness  which  took 
hold  of  me  in  the  middle  of  February  last,  although 
what  the  doctor,  Sir  Thomas  Barlow,  considers  satis- 
factory, is  very  slow,  and  it  is  only  during  the  last 
week  or  so  that  I  have  been  able  to  move  about ;  but 
within  the  last  day  or  two  I  am  feeling  stronger  and 
better.  I  may  not,  however,  be  quite  well  enough  to 
meet  you  at  the  steamer  on  your  arrival,  but  shall 
arrange  that  Mr.  Griffith  will  be  there  with  all  the 
letters  for  you,  of  which  there  will  doubtless  be  a  good 
many;  and  when  you  get  here  I  shall  be  most  happy 
to  be  of  use  to  you  in  any  and  every  way  I  can. 

Let  me  now  thank  you  and  your  colleagues  for  your 
kind  and  thoughtful  good  wishes  at  a  time  when  I 
was,  owing  to  the  severity  of  my  illness,  incapable  of 
giving  attention  to  correspondence  myself,  but  pray 
believe  that  I  am  grateful  for  your  and  their  kind 
consideration. 

He  continued  in  a  further  letter:  — 

To-day  we  drove  to  view  such  sites  as,  after  con- 
sideration, were  deemed  to  be  eligible.  The  ones  which 
I  think  were  viewed  with  most  favour  were  the  West- 
minster Hospital  site,  and  Morley's  Hotel,  facing 
Trafalgar  Square.  As  to  the  latter,  we  have  yet  to  get 
full  particulars,  and  the  vendors  of  the  hospital  site 

444 


Earl  Grey's  Scheme 

are  holding  out  for  what  appears  to  be  a  rather  high 
price. 

I  arranged  with  Mr.  Foster  that  he  should  cable  you, 
with  a  view  to  ascertaining  whether  the  Provinces 
would  join  in  a  general  scheme,  in  the  same  way  that 
the  Australian  States  are  doing,  and  if  this  could  be 
arranged,  it  would,  no  doubt,  simplify  matters. 

But  the  matter  dragged  along,  and  in  Decem- 
ber nothing  had  been  decided.  He  wrote  in  that 
month :  — 

A  personal  interview  has  been  arranged  for  at  an 
early  date  between  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 
and  myself,  to  discuss  the  matter  of  the  Westminster 
Hospital  site,  which  I  hear,  informally,  the  British 
Government  may  have  some  idea  of  acquiring  —  at 
least  in  part,  and  I  will  take  this  opportunity  of 
bringing  up  the  matter  that  you  mention. 

I  had  hoped  to  have  seen  Mr.  Lloyd  George  before 
the  Christmas  holidays,  but  it  is  now  scarcely  likely 
that  I  shall  be  able  to  do  so  before  next  week,  when 
I  will  immediately  communicate  with  you. 

Meanwhile  Earl  Grey  had  launched  his  pre- 
tentious scheme  for  a  Dominions  House  in  the 
Strand,  in  which  all  the  representatives  of  the 
nations  of  the  Empire  should  be  gathered  together. 
Nothing  attracted  Lord  Strathcona  less.  His  own 
views  on  the  matter  he  took  no  pains  to  conceal, 
and  was  accordingly  much  relieved  when  Mr. 
Borden  wrote  him  in  December,  1913,  that  the 
Ministry  "did  not  consider  the  time  opportune  for 
expending  a  very  large  sum  of  money."  To  this 
letter  he  replied  at  some  length  only  three  days 

445 


Lord  Strathcona 

before  he  died.  He  composed  and  signed  the  letter 
on  his  death-bed.  It  was  the  last  he  wrote,  and 
there  is  pathos  in  this  evidence  of  his  devotion  to 
Canada's  interests  when  it  is  remembered  that  till 
then  he  had  done  little  or  nothing  in  the  final 
arrangements  of  his  own. 

To  the  Honourable  R.  L.  Borden 

I7th  January,  1914. 

DEAR  MR.  BORDEN, — 

In  view  of  the  circumstances  mentioned  in  your 
letter  I  am  by  no  means  surprised  that  you  and  your 
colleagues  do  not  consider  the  time  opportune  for 
expending  a  very  large  sum  of  money  in  connection 
with  the  site  and  buildings  for  a  business  home  in 
London  for  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  While  less  than 
twenty  years  ago  there  was  little  belief  in  the  future 
of  Canada  by  men  of  affairs  in  the  United  Kingdom 
or  by  the  peoples  of  the  world  generally,  the  position 
is  now  entirely  changed.  To-day  the  Dominion  oc- 
cupies a  foremost  place  in  the  thoughts  of  all  people, 
and  requires  no  adventitious  advertising  of  a  spectacu- 
lar character  to  draw  attention  to  her  merits  and  to 
the  opportunities  offered  to  those  from  other  countries 
who  are  capable  and  determined  to  make  a  place  in 
the  world  in  which  they  can  settle  down  and  become 
prosperous. 

An  enormously  expensive  edifice  near  the  Strand, 
on  the  plan  put  before  me  by  Lord  Grey,  with  an  ele- 
vation overtopping  not  only  the  Commonwealth  and 
other  buildings  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  but  the  dome 
of  the  great  Cathedral,  St.  Paul's,  I  could  not  pos- 
sibly regard  as  other  than  an  unpardonable  expendi- 

446 


His  Ninety-third  Birthday 

ture,  and  in  my  mind  such  a  vast  building,  with  a 
dominating  pinnacle  erected  as  a  striking  advertise- 
ment, would  provoke  ridicule  rather  than  bring  ad- 
vantage to  our  great  country  and  its  people.  I  am 
more  convinced  every  day  that  it  is  not  in  the  grand 
architectural  effect  of  the  offices  of  the  Dominion  in 
London  that  the  requirements  of  the  situation  are  to 
be  found,  but  in  the  work  that  is  actually  done  within 
them  in  the  interests  of  the  Canadian  people. 

At  the  same  time  a  syndicate  or  company  registered 
as  the  Exchange  of  International  and  Colonial  Com- 
merce, Limited,  has  formally  asked  me  to  place  before 
you  certain  statements  in  connection  with  the  Aldwych 
site  and  their  negotiations  with  Lord  Grey,  which 
they  consider  should  be  brought  to  your  knowledge, 
and  I  enclose  the  statutory  declaration  they  have 
forwarded  for  this  purpose. 

Believe  me  to  be,  dear  Mr.  Borden, 
With  kindest  regards, 

Yours  sincerely, 

STRATHCONA. 

For  the  greater  part  of  his  ninety-third  birthday 
Lord  Strathcona  had  sat  at  his  desk  in  London 
working  as  usual,  seeming  rather  surprised  that 
the  numerous  journalists,  who  crowded  his  office, 
should  take  any  notice  of  the  fact  that  he  was 
within  seven  years  of  attaining  his  century  of  life. 
"I  have  no  golden  rule  of  my  own  making,"  he 
said;  "no  secret  to  practise  in  living  my  life.  But  I 
might  say  that  I  have  taken  no  account  of  the  pass- 
ing years.  I  have  not  counted  them  as  they  came 
and  went;  I  have  not  considered  them  as  some  men 
do."  His  last  visit  to  Glencoe  was  in  September, 

447 


Lord  Strathcona 

when  he  made  a  prolonged  stay.  He  left  Glencoe 
on  the  4th  of  October  accompanied  by  Lady  Strath- 
cona, and  few  then  thought  that  neither  of  them 
would  again  see  their  Highland  estate  with  its 
romantic  surroundings,  which  they  cherished  so 
warmly. 

But  the  year  was  not  to  pass  without  his  suffer- 
ing the  blow  from  which  he  was  not  destined  to 
recover.  The  whole  Empire,  which  regarded  him 
with  affection  and  veneration  as  a  type  of  what  was 
worthiest  within  it,  learnt  with  regret  of  the  break- 
ing of  the  tender  tie  which  bound  him  to  his  be- 
loved wife. 

Lady  Strathcona  had  of  late  been  frail,  subject 
to  colds,  and  much  confined  to  the  house.  On  sunny 
days  she  would  take  short  walks  in  Grosvenor 
Square,  opposite  her  London  home,  accompanied 
by  a  companion,  and  her  faithful  little  Yorkshire 
terrier.  On  Friday,  November  7,  she  suffered  from 
what  at  first  seemed  a  usual  cold,  but  it  rapidly 
developed  into  influenza  and  pneumonia,  and  she 
died  on  the  evening  of  the  I2th  in  her  eighty-ninth 
year.  Thus  terminated  a  union  lasting  through 
six  decades. 

A  friend  wrote  at  her  death :  — 

When  her  ladyship  was  away  from  London,  Lord 
Strathcona  would  allow  nothing  to  stand  in  the  way 
of  his  daily  message  to  her.  During  her  last  visit  to 
Glencoe,  Lord  Strathcona  was  seen,  in  seeming  peril, 
dodging  in  and  out  of  the  crowded  traffic  of  Victoria 
Street,  opposite  the  High  Commissioner's  Office.  A 
Canadian  friend,  with  the  kindliest  intentions,  offered 

448 


Lady  Strathcona's  Death 

to  escort  his  lordship  to  his  destination.  His  help  was 
unnecessary.  Hastening  into  the  High  Commission- 
er's Office,  this  Canadian  begged  that  some  one  might 
be  sent  to  do  the  High  Commissioner's  message  for 
him.  He  did  not  know  that  the  nonagenarian  High 
Commissioner  went  out  every  night  at  that  hour  to 
the  telegraph  office  across  the  way.  He  would  entrust 
a  thousand  messages  to  messengers,  but  this  one 
message  no  one  was  allowed  to  handle  but  himself.  It 
went  to  Lady  Strathcona  at  Glencoe. 

She  knew  what  work  was  and  loved  to  be  busy. 
When  you  called,  you  might  expect  to  find  her  knitting 
some  little  woollen  presents  for  her  grandchildren  or 
for  near  friends.  Even  her  husband  and  daughter 
knew  nothing  of  many  gifts  of  money  and  self-knitted 
goods  with  which  she  relieved  poverty  and  distress. 

Her  last  notable  exertion  was  her  hurried  visit 
to  Canada  in  the  previous  August.  When,  in  1912, 
Lord  Strathcona  made  his  penultimate  trip  to 
New  York  and  Montreal,  she  declared  that  he 
should  never  go  again  without  her.  She  was,  she 
said,  quite  as  well  able  to  go  as  he,  and  nothing 
could  prevent  her  keeping  her  word,  certainly  not 
the  reminder  that  she  had  always  been  a  bad 
sailor,  sometimes  withdrawing  into  her  cabin  on 
the  first  day  of  the  voyage,  only  to  leave  it  when 
the  steamer  touched  American  soil.  A  visitor  re- 
ferred to  this  trip  when  calling  upon  her  shortly 
before  her  death,  and  her  remark  was,  "Yes,  I  am 
very  glad  I  went.  I  long  desired  to  see  Canada  again. 
How  wonderful  it  is !  " 

The  memory  of  Lady  Strathcona,  which  many 

449 


Lord  Strathcona 

Canadians  cherish,  is  of  a  sunny  summer  garden 
party  on  Dominion  Day,  in  the  beautiful  expanse 
of  Knebworth  Park,  where  she  made  welcome 
her  friends  and  showed  her  unfeigned  delight  in  the 
shrill  music  of  the  Scottish  pipers. 

Although  a  woman  of  retiring  and  altogether  un- 
ostentatious nature,  Lady  Strathcona  throughout 
her  life  splendidly  seconded  her  husband  in  his  in- 
numerable acts  and  schemes  for  the  benefit  of  the 
people  of  Canada  and  of  mankind  at  large.  With 
her  daughter,  the  Honourable  Mrs.  Howard,  Lady 
Strathcona  gave  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  to 
McGill  University  for  the  erection  of  -a  new  wing 
to  the  Medical  Building.  To  Queen  Alexandra's 
fund  for  the  relief  of  the  unemployed  of  Great 
Britain,  she  gave  liberally,  and  from  time  to  time 
her  helpfulness  was  shown  in  many  directions.  That 
in  him  her  death  produced  a  poignant  anguish  the 
following  affecting  letter  shows :  — 

To  Sir  Charles  Tupper,  Bart.1 

28  GROSVENOR  SQUARE,  W., 
ijth  November,  1913. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  CHARLES  TUPPER:  — 

From  the  bottom  of  my  heart  I  thank  you  for  your 
most  kind  letter  of  sympathy  in  the  greatest  sorrow 
I  have  ever  experienced.  She  was  my  stay  and  com- 

1  Sir  Charles  had  written :"  No  poor  words  that  I  can  command 
can  express  the  sorrow  I  feel  at  learning  that  the  beloved  partner  of 
all  your  joys  has  been  called  away.  From  the  first  hour  of  our  ac- 
quaintance my  lamented  wife  and  I  were  indebted  to  her  for  unre- 
mitting kindnesses  and  attention." 

450 


His  Final  Illness 

forter  throughout  a  long  life,  and  I  can  hardly  yet 
realize  that  she  has  passed  away  from  me.  You,  my 
dear  Sir  Charles,  have  been  through  the  same  trial,  and 
only  those  who  have  done  so  can  fully  realize  what  it 
means,  after  so  many  years  of  dear  companionship.  I 
know  of  the  affection  which  existed  between  Lady 
Tupper  and  my  wife,  and  of  her  great  regard  for  you, 
and  this  makes  me  the  more  grateful  for  your  kind 
thought  of  me  in  my  sorrow. 

I  hope  that  by  this  time  you  are  feeling  better  and 
more  comfortable,  and  with  the  kindest  regards  to 
you,  Mrs.  Cameron,  and  all  the  family,  in  which  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Howard  join, 

Believe  me,  my  dear  Sir  Charles, 

Yours  gratefully  and  sincerely, 

STRATHCONA. 

After  his  wife's  death  the  catarrhal  malady, 
which  for  some  time  past  had  troubled  him,  in- 
creased. He  became  confined  to  his  room,  and  on 
the  1 7th  he  was  found  to  be  suffering  from  great 
prostration,  heart  failure  threatening.  His  condi- 
tion continued  very  grave,  with  no  signs  of  im- 
provement, and  it  was  stated  on  the  evening  of 
Monday  (the  iQth)  that  he  was  sinking. 

Now  to  the  simple  piety  of  his  boyhood,  in  a 
northern  Scottish  town  long  ago,  his  thoughts  on 
his  death-bed  returned. 

Never  shall  those  who  were  around  him  forget  the 
emotion  with  which  they  heard  him  repeat,  not  many 
hours  before  he  died,  without  error,  pause,  or  con- 
fusion, the  whole  of  the  Second  Paraphrase,  so  dear 
to  Scottish  hearts :  — 

451 


Lord  Strathcona 

"O  God  of  Bethel,  by  whose  hand 
Thy  people  still  are  fed." 

To-morrow  that  great  hymn,  dearest  of  all  hymns 
to  our  people  throughout  Scotland,  Canada,  and  the 
Empire,  will  echo  down  the  arches  of  Westminster 
Abbey  as  we  bear  him  to  his  rest.  And  we  shall  re- 
member that,  halfway  up  the  nave,  under  the  slab 
over  which  he  will  be  carried,  rests  the  body  of  another 
Scotsman,  David  Livingstone,  the  immortal  of  an- 
other continent.  This  paraphrase,  we  are  told,  Living- 
stone, when  lost  and  famishing  in  the  desert,  would 
read  aloud  to  himself  under  the  scorching  sun,  just  as, 
possibly  at  the  very  same  time,  Donald  Smith  was 
reading  or  repeating  it  on  the  waste  of  snows  in 
Labrador.  Thus  did  these  two  great  solitaries  meet  — 
in  a  Scottish  hymn,  learned  at  a  mother's  knee  — 
before  the  throne  of  God.1 

He  never  rallied,  and  passed  away  very  peace- 
fully, at  five  minutes  to  two  on  the  morning  of  the 
2 1st  of  January,  in  the  presence  of  the  immediate 
members  of  his  family,  including  Mrs.  Howard,  his 
daughter;  Dr.  Howard,  his  son-in-law;  and  Sir 
Thomas  Barlow,  his  physician,  who  had  been  in  the 
house  almost  continuously  for  several  days. 

He  made  a  brave  fight  for  life,  full  of  the  desire 
to  conquer  his  illness.     Even  on   the  Saturday 
preceding  his  death,  when  suffering  great  weak- 
ness, when,  indeed,  his  life  was  despaired  of,  he 
summoned  all  his  lingering  strength  to  request  that 
official  letters  and  documents  should  be  sent  to  his 
house  in  Grosvenor  Square  from  the  High  Com- 
1  The  Reverend  Archibald  Fleming. 
452 


His  Death 

missioner's  Office,  that  they  might  duly  receive  his 
official  signature. 

The  news  of  the  High  Commissioner's  death  was 
at  an  early  hour  communicated  to  the  King;  the 
Duke  of  Connaught,  Governor-General  of  Canada; 
and  the  Canadian  Government,  from  whom  mes- 
sages of  sympathy  and  regret  at  the  loss  Canada 
had  sustained  were  duly  received. 

The  moment  it  became  known  in  the  City  of 
London,  the  Lord  Mayor,  Sir  Vansittart  Bowater, 
despatched  the  following  message :  — 

The  death  of  Lord  Strathcona  occasions  great  grief 
in  the  city  of  London.  His  devoted  services  to  the 
Empire  entitle  him  to  a  lasting  grateful  appreciation 
and  recognition  in  the  pages  of  its  history,  and  his 
long,  useful,  loyal  life  affords  a  grand  example  to  his 
fellow-countrymen. 

The  Duke  of  Argyll  telegraphed  from  Kensington 
Palace:  — 

"Our  greatest,  yet  with  least  pretence,"  as  Tenny- 
son said  of  Wellington.  ARGYLL. 

In  Canada,  the  grief  at  his  death  was  widespread 
and  profound.  Flags  were  flown  at  half-mast  on 
the  Bank  of  Montreal,  at  the  Windsor  Station,  the 
offices  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway,  Canadian  and 
Dominion  Express  Companies,  and  nearly  all  the 
principal  business  houses  in  this,  the  commercial 
capital  of  the  Dominion,  of  which  he  was  a  citizen. 

The  Governor-General,  H.R.H.  the  Duke  of 
Connaught,  despatched  the  following  message:  — 

453 


Lord  Strathcona 

Please  accept  expression  of  very  deep  sympathy 
from  the  Duchess  of  Connaught  and  myself.  Lord 
Strathcona's  lofty  ideals,  his  splendid  patriotism,  as 
well  as  his  distinguished  services  as  High  Commissioner 
have  long  been  a  source  of  pride  and  stimulus  to  his 
country.  Among  Lord  Strathcona's  many  great 
qualities,  his  truly  magnificent  generosity  was  prob- 
ably the  most  outstanding  and  his  memory  will  ever 
be  kept  green  in  the  Dominion  as  the  generous  man 
of  Canada. 

In  the  Canadian  Parliament  the  Prime  Minister 
moved  the  adjournment  of  the  House.  Said  the 
Right  Honourable  Mr.  Borden :  — 

It  is  fitting,  I  am  sure,  and  all  the  members  of  both 
sides  in  this  House  will  agree,  that  we  should  pay  a 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  great  Canadian  who 
passed  away  yesterday.  I  speak  of  Lord  Strathcona 
as  a  Canadian,  because,  although  born  across  the  sea, 
his  life-work  was  almost  altogether  carried  on  in  this 
country,  to  the  service  of  which  he  consecrated  many 
years  of  his  life. 

He  had  a  notable  career,  a  career  marked,  especially 
in  the  earlier  years  of  his  life,  by  conditions  and 
difficulties  more  arduous  than  those  which  most  men 
are  called  upon  to  meet. 

When  one  looks  back  upon  the  great  span  of  years, 
over  which  his  lifetime  stretched,  one  is  tempted  to 
recall  all  that  has  transpired  in  His  Majesty's  Domin- 
ion on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  since  Lord  Strathcona 
came  to  this  country  at  the  age  of  eighteen. 

At  that  time  there  was  much  political  unrest  in 
Canada,  carried  in  some  parts  of  the  country  even  to 

454 


Prime  Minister's  Tribute 

the  extent  of  rebellion.  At  that  time  we  had  not 
achieved  the  right  of  self-government  or  many  of  those 
constitutional  liberties  which  have  been  developed, 
and  have  come  into  force  from  time  to  time.  Nearly 
half  the  period  of  Lord  Strathcona's  allotted  existence 
had  passed  when  this  Confederation  was  formed,  and 
from  1838,  when  he  first  came  to  Canada,  during  the 
period  of  his  life  which  succeeded,  he  saw  what  one 
might  call  a  complete  transformation  of  the  northern 
half  of  this  continent.  He  had  been  a  prominent 
figure  in  the  public  life  of  this  country  before  he  under- 
took, at  the  age  of  seventy-six,  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  the  high  office  of  High  Commissioner  of 
Canada.  My  right  honourable  friend  knows,  perhaps 
better  than  I  do,  the  devotion  which  Lord  Strathcona 
gave  to  those  duties.  I  have  known  many  men  in  my 
own  lifetime  who  have  been  inspired  by  a  high  sense 
of  duty,  but  I  do  not  know  of  any  man  in  my  acquaint- 
ance and  knowledge  who  has  been  inspired  by  a  higher 
conception  of  duty  than  was  Lord  Strathcona.  As 
the  weight  of  years  pressed  upon  him,  it  was  almost 
pathetic  to  see  the  devotion  with  which  he  insisted 
upon  performing  even  the  minor  duties  of  his  posi- 
tion. 

In  all  the  time  I  have  known  him,  and  that  was  in 
the  later  years  of  his  life,  I  was  struck  with  the  fact 
that  time  did  not  seem  to  have  dimmed  the  freshness 
of  his  spirit,  the  vigour  of  his  will,  or  his  strength  of 
purpose. 

The  duties  of  the  office  which  he  discharged  were 
always  important  and  sometimes  delicate,  and  it  is 
satisfactory  to  us  to  remember  that  no  man  more  than 
he  had  a  higher  pride  in  this  country,  in  all  that  it  has 
achieved,  in  all  that  it  might  achieve  in  the  future,  and 

455 


Lord  Strathcona 

no  man  more  than  he  had  a  deeper  interest  in  all  that 
concerned  the  honour,  dignity,  and  interests  of  Can- 
ada, nor  was  more  concerned  to  do  his  duty. 

I  think  that  the  example  of  his  life  may  well  be  an 
inspiration  to  us  Canadians.  Some  one  said  many 
years  ago  that  Thomas  Carlyle  spent  his  life  preaching 
earnestness  to  the  most  earnest  people  in  the  world. 
It  is  not  for  me  to  speak  at  length  of  his  great  public 
service;  in  the  office  which  he  filled  he  performed  a 
great  and  important  public  service  to  Canada  and  to 
the  Empire. 

Besides  that,  his  many  benefactions  for  great  chari- 
table purposes  are  known  to  all  men,  so  that  I  do  not 
need  to  do  more  than  allude  to  them  to-day.  I  con- 
sider that  it  would  be  a  fitting  tribute  of  respect  to  his 
memory  that  this  House  should  stand  adjourned  till 
to-morrow,  and  I  shall  move,  seconded  by  Sir  Wilfrid 
Laurier,  that  the  House  do  stand  adjourned. 

In  seconding  the  motion  for  the  adjournment  of 
the  House,  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier  joined  the  Premier 
in  expressing  the  deep  sympathy  of  the  Canadian 
people  in  the  loss  sustained  by  the  death  of  Lord 
Strathcona.  He  said  in  part:  — 

Since  Sir  John  Macdonald,  I  do  not  think  there  has 
been  any  Canadian  whose  loss  has  occasioned  so 
deep  and  so  universal  sorrow.  He  is  mourned  by  His 
Majesty,  by  the  authorities  of  commerce  and  finance 
in  London  whose  equal  he  showed  himself  to  be,  by 
the  poor  of  London  for  his  generosity,  by  the  people 
of  Scotland  with  whom  he  remained  in  close  relations 
to  the  end,  and  by  Canadians,  high  and  low,  rich  and 
poor,  of  whatever  race  or  creed. 

456 


Canadian  Eulogies 

A  former  Prime  Minister,  Sir  Mackenzie  Bowell, 
paid  the  following  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Lord 
Strathcona  on  learning  of  his  death :  — 

It  is  a  great  loss  to  the  Empire  and  especially  to 
Canada.  He  has  done  so  very  much  for  this  country, 
the  value  of  his  life  and  work  are  well  known  to 
every  Canadian.  We  all  had  the  very  highest  appre- 
ciation of  Lord  Strathcona's  ability,  and  his  devotion 
to  this  Dominion  and  to  the  Empire  has  been  equalled 
by  none.  The  Government  will  have  difficulty  in  re- 
placing him. 

Said  Sir  George  Ross,  ex-Premier  of  Ontario :  — • 

Canada  owes  him  a  great  deal  for  the  standing  he 
has  given  to  the  High  Commissioner's  office  and  for 
his  assistance  in  directing  investments  in  London  and 
maintaining  the  honour  and  credit  of  the  Dominion. 
It  will  be  no  easy  matter  to  replace  him  with  a  man  of 
equal  generosity  and  adaptability  for  the  position  he 
has  held  for  so  many  years. 

In  his  own  Province  of  Quebec,  the  Prime  Min- 
ister and  the  leader  of  the  Opposition  both  paid 
tribute  in  the  Assembly  to  the  work  of  Lord 
Strathcona.  In  moving  the  adjournment  of  the 
House,  Sir  Lomer  Gouin  said :  — 

The  death  of  Lord  Strathcona  involves  a  great  loss 
both  to  Canada  and  to  the  Empire.  Of  him  it  may  be 
truly  said  that  he  was  one  of  the  builders  of  this  coun- 
try, and  a  national  benefactor.  He  represented  us 
with  the  utmost  dignity  in  London,  and  powerfully 
contributed  in  making  Canada  better  known  in 
Europe.  His  splendid  works  and  his  many  acts  of 

457 


Lord  Strathcona 

munificence  will  perpetuate  his  memory  and  fill  one  of 
the  brightest  pages  in  our  annals. 

Mr.  J.  M.  Tellier,  leader  of  the  Opposition,  in 
seconding  the  motion,  said  that  the  sentiments 
expressed  by  the  Prime  Minister  were  those  of 
every  member  of  the  House.  He  added :  — 

Our  loss  is  a  heavy  one  by  the  death  of  one  who  has 
represented  us  so  worthily  in  London. 

Canada  [declared  Archbishop  Bruchesi]  has  lost  her 
greatest  citizen,  the  Empire  a  noble  son,  and  humanity 
a  most  generous  benefactor. 

I  long  ago  learned  to  esteem  and  honour  the  great 
man  who  has  just  gone  out  from  amongst  us,  leaving 
behind  an  honoured  name,  a  reputation  for  unequalled 
patriotism,  and  as  a  Canadian  that  of  an  unexampled 
Empire-builder.  Although  a  much  younger  man  and 
of  a  different  faith  and  nationality,  I  am  proud  to  say, 
now  he  has  departed,  that  Lord  Strathcona  was  a 
generous,  broad-minded  friend,  and  on  more  occa- 
sions than  one  the  venerable  High  Commissioner  gave 
ample  evidence  of  his  love  for  all  the  races  composing 
this  great  Dominion  and  his  deep  respect  for  the  ad- 
herents of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.  His  donations 
were  especially  generous  to  the  poor  of  this  city,  and  to 
those  he  had  known  in  other  lands,  and  although  the 
very  large  sums  were  given  to  other  institutions  than 
my  own,  I  hasten  to  express  my  gratitude  for  what  he 
did  for  our  institutions  and  to  myself  personally.  His 
lordship  gave  me  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  Home  for 
the  Incurables,  and  when  Father  Quinlan  was  parish 
priest  of  St.  Patrick's,  Lord  Strathcona  gave  five  thou- 
sand dollars  toward  the  Catholic  High  School,  to  the 

458 


Archbishop  Bruchesi 

great  satisfaction  of  the  Irish  Catholic  faithful  of  the 
city.  Then,  when  the  noble  Canadian  peer  learned  of 
the  Eucharistic  Congress,  he  hastened  to  place  the 
sum  of  five  thousand  dollars  to  my  credit  for  that 
splendid  manifestation  of  Catholic  faith,  and  for  this 
alone  how  could  we  ever  forget  Lord  Strathcona?  He 
also  placed  his  palatial  home  at  my  disposition  during 
the  same  Congress,  and  Cardinal  Bourne  was,  while 
occupying  the  residence  in  question,  treated  by  his 
lordship  in  a  princely  manner.  During  one  of  my 
recent  trips  to  the  other  side  of  the  ocean  I  was  hon- 
oured by  an  invitation  to  one  of  his  splendid  homes  in 
England,  and  for  three  days  I  not  only  enjoyed  his 
never-ending  kindness  and  hospitality,  but  I  espe- 
cially learned  to  appreciate  his  qualities  as  a  father  and 
as  a  husband  and  many  other  traits  which  drew  him 
so  closely  to  those  who  were  near  and  dear  to  him. 
They  will  all  deplore  the  loss  that  has  just  fallen  upon 
them. 

Truly  had  he  been  the  friend  of  McGill  Uni- 
versity, whose  Board  of  Governors  met  and  passed 
the  following  resolution :  — 

The  Board  of  Governors  desires  to  enter  on  the 
minutes  of  this  meeting,  convened  on  the  very  day  of 
the  funeral  service  at  Westminster  Abbey,  a  heart- 
felt expression  of  their  deep  regret  for  the  death  of 
Lord  Strathcona,  who,  in  addition  to  his  other  im- 
portant public  offices,  had  held  for  more  than  twenty- 
three  years  the  position  of  President  of  the  Royal 
Institution  for  the  Advancement  of  Learning  and 
Chancellor  of  McGill  University.  The  members  of  the 
Board  have  felt  it  an  honour  to  be  associated  with  such 
a  man  in  the  administration  of  the  University,  and  his 

459 


Lord  Strathcona 

death  comes  home  to  each  and  all  of  them  with  a  sense 
of  personal  loss.  It  is  a  matter  of  satisfaction  that,  in 
spite  of  distance  and  advancing  age,  his  lordship  had 
felt  able  to  visit  the  University  as  recently  as  Septem- 
ber of  last  year,  when  he  was  one  of  the  central  figures 
of  the  great  and  historic  gathering  convened  by  the 
American  Bar  Association.  Passing  from  life  now  full 
of  years  and  honours,  dying,  as  it  were,  in  harness, 
while  still  in  the  active  discharge,  at  the  metropolis 
of  the  Empire,  of  his  official  duties  as  High  Commis- 
sioner for  Canada,  he  has  left  behind  him  memories 
that  will  live  long  in  every  Canadian  heart. 

McGill  in  particular  feels  under  the  greatest  obliga- 
tions to  her  late  Chancellor  for  services  rendered  dur- 
ing the  long  period  in  which  he  watched  over  her 
interests;  for  his  wise  counsel,  his  unfailing  generosity, 
and  the  inspiration  of  his  noble  example. 

.    Said  Chief  Justice  Sir  Charles  Davidson :  — 

I 

Strathcona  and  Rhodes  were  two  magnificent  men 
of  our  day  and  generation.  We  who  are  still  living 
will  not  look  upon  their  like  again.  Thank  God  that 
they  have  been  of  the  brood  of  the  Empire. 

We  need  not  fear  exaggeration  in  speaking  of  Lord 
Strathcona.  In  especial  degree  has  he  enriched  and 
uplifted  Canadian  life.  May  we  emulate  even  if  we 
cannot  in  the  mean  while  at  least  reach  to  the  lofty 
standards  of  his  public  and  private  careers. 

He  stood  supreme  in  the  superbness,  constancy,  and 
catholicity  of  his  benefactions.  Only  when  the  story 
of  his  life  is  written  shall  one  fully  know  of  how  mighty 
a  part  he  played  in  his  life's  ambition,  the  welding 
together,  with  enduring  bonds,  of  all  British  posses- 
sions and  the  Mother  Land. 

460 


Montreal's  Loss 

There  should  be  engraven  upon  his  tomb:  "Here 
lies  the  great  and  good  Lord  Strathcona." 

Declared  Mr.  H.  V.  Meredith,  President  of  the 
Bank  of  Montreal :  — 

Lord  Strathcona' s  services  to  Canada  and  the 
Empire  and  his  deeds  of  charity  and  princely  bene- 
ficence, will  long  be  remembered  and  cherished  by  all 
Canadians.  His  connection  with  the  Bank  of  Montreal 
as  Director,  Vice-President,  President,  and  Honorary 
President,  extended  over  a  period  of  forty-one  years, 
and  during  all  that  time  his  wise  counsel  and  wide 
experience  were  of  great  value  to  the  bank,  and  were 
freely  placed  at  its  disposal. 

The  French-Canadian  Mayor  Lavallee,  of  Mon- 
treal, wrote:  — 

The  severance  of  this  great  man  from  mortal 
things  is  an  incalculable  loss  not  only  to  Canada,  but 
to  the  whole  of  the  British  Empire.  It  is  given  to  few 
men  to  be  so  revered  and  loved.  This  universal  esteem, 
however,  was  the  outcome  of  a  life  well  spent.  The 
world  is  a  better  world  by  Lord  Strathcona  having 
lived  in  it.  He  was  not  only  a  brilliant  man,  but  a 
kindly  and  charitable  one.  Great  as  was  his  position 
in  the  Empire,  he  never  forgot  that  it  was  not  wealth 
and  position  which  counted  so  much  as  sterling  merit, 
and  the  forming  of  a  character  in  which  charity  and  pity 
for  others  does  so  much  to  ease  the  pathway  of  those 
who  have  little  of  this  world's  wealth  and  honours. 
To  me,  one  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  Lord 
Strathcona  was  his  natural  goodness  of  heart  —  a  trait 
that  graciously  broadened  with  the  passing  years. 

The  life  of  Lord  Strathcona  will  stand  out  in 

461 


Lord  Strathcona 

Canadian  history  as  a  splendid  example  of  what  self- 
denial,  right  living,  and  ambition  can  accomplish. 
For  generations  to  come  the  young  men  of  our  country 
will  have  a  glorious  pattern  to  imitate.  Canada  is 
especially  indebted  to  the  late  High  Commissioner 
for  much  of  the  phenomenal  progress  it  has  made. 

It  was  believed  at  first  that  his  mortal  remains 
would  find  fitting  sepulchre  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
and  indeed  the  Dean  and  Chapter  offered  this,  the 
greatest  honour  that  can  be  given  to  Britain's 
noblest  dead.  But  he  had  expressed  on  his  death- 
bed a  wish  to  sleep  his  eternal  sleep  beside  his  wife 
in  the  cemetery  at  Highgate,  and  this  wish  was 
respected  by  his  family.  It  was,  however,  at  the 
Abbey  that  the  funeral  service  was  performed. 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  body  at  the  Abbey,  Sir 
Frederick  Bridge,  who  was  at  the  organ,  played  an 
ancient  and  a  modern  lament  for  the  dead.  The 
first  was  the  sonorous  music  composed  by  Purcell 
for  the  funeral  of  Queen  Mary  in  1694,  and  the 
other  was  Chopin's  well-known  "Funeral  March." 
The  great  bell  of  the  Abbey  was  tolling  as  the 
funeral  procession  drove  into  Dean's  Yard.  At  the 
door  of  the  West  Cloisters  the  body  was  received 
by  the  Dean  of  Westminster,  the  clergy  and 
choristers,  and  the  pallbearers.  The  coffin  was 
borne  into  the  church  hidden  from  view  beneath 
the  heavy  folds  of  the  Abbey  pall,  of  deep  purple 
velvet  with  an  edging  of  silver  and  gold  lace,  and 
thickly  strewn  with  lilies-of- the- valley  and  fern. 
The  ten  pallbearers,  selected  on  account  of  their 
special  connection  with  Canada  or  personal  rela- 

462 


Westminster  Abbey 

tionship  with  Lord  Strathcona,  were  as  follows: 
Lord  Aberdeen,  Lord  Lansdowne,  Lord  Lichfield, 
the  Very  Reverend  George  Adam  Smith  (Principal 
of  Aberdeen  University),  Mr.  W.  L.  Griffith  (Secre- 
tary of  the  Canadian  High  Commissioner's  Office), 
the  Duke  of  Argyll,  the  Lord  Mayor,  Mr.  Harcourt 
(Colonial  Secretary),  Sir  William  Osier  (Regius 
Professor  of  Medicine,  Oxford) ,  Sir  Thomas  Skinner 
(Deputy-Governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company). 

The  chief  mourners  included  the  Honourable 
Mrs.  Jared  Bliss  Howard  (the  present  Baroness 
Strathcona),  Mr.  Howard,  and  their  sons  and 
daughters,  Miss  Smith  (niece),  Mrs.  Grant  (niece), 
and  the  Misses  Grant,  Lieutenant  Kitson,  R.N., 
Mr.  A.  May,  private  secretary,  and  Mr.  James 
Garson,  W.S.,  the  family  solicitor. 

One  wreath  was  carried  behind  the  coffin.  Com- 
posed of  lilies  of  various  kinds  and  heliotrope  or- 
chids, it  was  sent  by  Queen  Alexandra,  and  attached 
to  it  was  a  card  bearing  the  words,  in  Her  Majesty's 
handwriting :  — 

In  sorrowful  memory  of  one  of  the  Empire's  kindest 
of  men  and  the  greatest  of  benefactors,  from 

ALEXANDRA. 

After  the  opening  sentences  of  the  Burial  Serv- 
ice had  been  read,  the  procession  passed  up  the 
nave  to  the  singing  of  "O  God  of  Bethel,"  his 
favourite  hymn,  recited  by  him  with  his  dying 
breath.  The  coffin  was  then  placed  on  a  bier  be- 
neath the  Lantern,  and  around  it  six  candles 
dimly  burned. 

463 


Lord  Strathcona 

The  Dean  of  Westminster  (Bishop  Ryle)  and  the 
Precentor  of  the  Abbey  (the  Reverend  L.  H. 
Nixon)  officiated.  Always  beautiful  and  impres- 
sive, the  Burial  Service  is  especially  solemn  and 
uplifting  in  this  ancient  fane,  with  its  historical 
associations  and  monuments  which  proclaim  how 
great,  if  fleeting,  is  the  gift  of  life,  and  how  noble 
and  enduring  are  the  things  of  which  mortal  man  is 
capable.  The  choir  led  the  singing  of  the  Ninetieth 
Psalm,  after  which  the  Dean  read  the  lesson  from 
I  Cor.  xv.  The  anthems  were  Blair's  paraphrase, 
"  How  still  and  peaceful  is  the  grave,"  to  music  by 
Tye,  and  Goss's  "  I  heard  a  voice,"  followed  by  the 
burial  prayers  which  were  read  by  the  Precentor. 
Very  touching  was  the  singing  of  the  calming  and 
consoling  hymn,  "  Now  the  labourer's  task  is  o'er." 
Finally,  after  the  Benediction,  when  the  funeral 
procession,  with  the  coffin,  left  the  Abbey,  the 
"Dead  March"  in  "Saul"  was  played,  conveying 
its  high,  impassioned  sense  of  the  dignity  of  death. 

The  coffin,  covered  with  beautiful  wreaths,  was 
placed  in  a  glass-framed  motor-hearse,  which  was 
followed  by  about  a  dozen  motor-cars  with  the 
relatives  and  other  chief  mourners.  No  horses, 
either  ridden  or  driven,  were  to  be  seen  in  the  pro- 
cession. It  went  by  Upper  Grosvenor  Street,  Park 
Lane,  Grosvenor  Gardens,  and  Victoria  Street. 
The  blinds  of  many  of  the  houses  along  the  route 
were  drawn.  In  Victoria  Street  the  offices  of  the 
High  Commissioner  of  Canada,  the  scene  of  so  many 
activities  of  Lord  Strathcona,  were  closed,  and  over 
the  door  hung  the  Union  Jack  at  half-mast. 

464 


Highgate  Cemetery 

The  funeral  proceeded  to  Highgate  Cemetery  by 
Whitehall,  Trafalgar  Square,  Charing  Cross  Road, 
Tottenham  Court  Road,  and  Hampstead  Road. 
The  vault  in  which  Lady  Strathcona  was  buried  lies 
at  the  northern  end  of  the  burial-ground,  a  pleas- 
antly situated  corner  almost  within  the  shadow  of 
the  trees  of  Waterlow  Park.  Here  a  large  number 
of  people  gathered  behind  the  barrier  of  ropes  which 
marked  off  the  space  roundabout  the  graveside. 
Before  the  arrival  of  the  hearse  and  procession  of 
motor-cars,  which  reached  the  cemetery  shortly 
after  one  o'clock,  carriages  were  continually  driv- 
ing up  laden  with  wreaths  which  had  been  brought 
direct  from  Grosvenor  Square.  These  were  so  dis- 
posed as  to  form  a  beautiful  floral  hedge  enclosing 
the  boarded  and  carpeted  space  where  the  Burial 
Service  was  read.  Those  who  sent  wreaths,  in 
addition  to  Queen  Alexandra,  were  Princess  Louise 
and  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  the  Duchess  of  Albany, 
Prince  and  Princess  t Alexander  of  Teck,  the  Land- 
graf  of  Hesse,  the  Prime  Minister  of  Canada  and 
Mrs.  Borden,  and  the  Dominion  Government. 
The  white  enamelled  walls  of  the  vault  had  been 
hung  by  the  cemetery  authorities  with  festoons  of 
laurel  and  wreaths  of  lilies. 

The  service  at  the  graveside  was  marked  by  the 
same  simplicity  as  the  proceedings  in  the  Abbey. 
The  chief  mourners  stood  around  the  vault,  while 
those  who  had  driven  from  the  Abbey,  including 
the  Duke  of  Argyll  and  Lord  Aberdeen,  were 
grouped  behind  them.  The  committal  portion  of 
the  Church  of  England  service  was  read  by  the 

465 


Lord  Strathcona 

Reverend  Archibald  Fleming,  of  St.  Columba's 
(Church  of  Scotland),  Pont  Street,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  special  prayers  taken  from  the  Church  of 
Scotland  Order.  The  coffin  was  finally  lowered 
into  the  grave  and  placed  beside  the  body  of  Lady 
Strathcona,  with  the  two  wreaths  sent  by  mem- 
bers of  the  family  reposing  upon  it. 

It  was  not  a  state,  nor  yet  a  public,  funeral.  With 
all  the  greatness  he  had  attained,  Donald  Alexander 
Smith  was  a  simple  and  homely  man;  and  it  was 
the  desire  of  his  family  that  his  burial  should  be 
in  keeping  with  his  character,  as  private  and  devoid 
of  show  as  possible.  Accordingly  Lord  Strathcona 
had  been  borne  to  his  tomb  without  pomp,  but 
otherwise  with  many  marks  of  honour,  national  and 
Imperial,  befitting  the  obsequies  of  one  who  had 
given  his  long  life  to  the  enrichment  of  the  Empire 
and  the  knitting-together  of  its  strength. 

Nor  were  manifestations  of  mourning  on  the  part 
of  the  general  community  lacking.  The  public  — • 
to  whom  Lord  Strathcona  appealed  as  a  wonder- 
ful veteran  of  ninety-four  serving  his  country 
almost  to  the  last  hour  of  his  long  life  —  paid 
such  tributes  of  respect  to  his  memory  as  were  in 
their  power.  They  crowded  the  unreserved  spaces 
of  the  Abbey,  filling  the  great  nave.  They  as- 
sembled at  various  points  of  the  way  from  the 
Abbey  to  Highgate,  and  reverently  uncovered  and 
in  silence  saluted  the  coffin  as  it  passed  them  by. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

IT  is  perhaps  unexampled  in  history  for  the  life 
of  a  single  individual  to  coincide  at  so  many  points 
with  the  life  of  a  nation  as  does  Lord  Strathcona's 
with  that  of  Canada.  The  date  of  his  birth  is  so  re- 
mote as  almost  to  take  us  back  to  the  reign  of  that 
monarch  to  whom  New  France  surrendered  and  for 
whose  sake  the  United  Empire  Loyalists  made  their 
immortal  sacrifice.  He  came  to  Canada  in  the  very 
first  year  of  Queen  Victoria's  accession  and  at  a  cru- 
cial moment  in  our  history.  Lord  Durham's  mission 
marks  a  new  constitutional  epoch;  the  subject  of 
these  pages  was  himself  an  eye-witness  of  the  events 
which  the  famous  pro-consul  reported.  His  activi- 
ties were  intimately  connected  first  with  the  Far 
East  and  then  with  the  Far  West.  He  began  his 
political  career  soon  after  the  Dominion  of  Canada 
was  born.  He  saw  the  genesis  of  Manitoba  and  was 
her  first  representative.  He  was  concerned  in  the 
creation  or  the  supreme  control  of  some  of  Canada's 
greatest  institutions,  —  the  fur-trade,  the  bank 
system,  and  the  railways.  He  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  peopling  the  West  and  in  educating  the 
East.  He  saw  the  growth  of  Canada's  first  period 
of  great  prosperity,  to  which  his  own  efforts  had  in 
full  measure  contributed,  and  he  died  on  the  eve  of 
a  new  era  when  our  people,  stimulated  by  his  teach- 

467 


Lord  Strathcona 

ing  and  his  example,  sanctified  forever  by  thou- 
sands of  lives  and  millions  of  money  the  bond 
which  binds  them  to  the  British  Empire. 

At  the  public  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Montreal 
in  1900,  which  resulted  in  the  erection  of  the 
Strathcona  Monument  in  Dominion  Square,  he 
told  his  hearers  that  he  could  then  look  back  on 
more  than  sixty  years  of  work  in  Canada.  Yet,  as 
Sir  William  Peterson  reminds  us:  — 

Already  for  some  time  past,  he  had  held  his  high 
office  as  the  nation's  representative  in  London  —  an 
office  which  would  have  sufficed  in  itself,  even  apart 
from  his  great  personality,  to  mark  him  out  as  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  the  Empire.  But  it 
was  easy  to  see  that  at  the  root  and  foundation  of  the 
high  position  he  had  won  lay  the  long  years  of  prepara- 
tion for  it.  From  his  native  Scotland  he  had  taken  to 
Labrador  all  the  best  results  of  a  careful  home  training, 
which  revealed  itself  in  the  remarkable  rapidity  with 
which  he  rose  to  the  very  top  in  the  service  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company.  When  the  call  to  action  came 
to  him  in  connection  with  the  trouble  in  the  North- 
West,  it  found  him  a  resolute  and  experienced  man  of 
affairs,  who  knew  the  hearts  of  others  as  they  knew 
his.  Then  came  the  period  of  service  at  Ottawa  and 
Montreal,  which  completed  his  preparation,  and  gave 
him  such  a  place  in  the  esteem  and  affection  of  his 
fellow-countrymen  that  none  but  he  could  be  looked 
to  when  there  was  a  need  for  some  one  to  take  up  the 
r61e  of  Canadian  representative  in  London. 

To  quote  Mr.  Austen  Chamberlain:  — 

He  was  a  splendid  illustration  of  the  opportunities 
which  the  British  Empire  affords  to  its  sons  and  of  the 

468 


A  Conspicuous  Figure 

use  the  best  of  them  can  make  of  those  opportunities. 
With  no  advantages  of  birth  or  fortune,  he  made  him- 
self one  of  the  great  outstanding  figures  of  the  Empire. 
He  made  a  great  fortune,  but  what  was  more,  he  used 
it  nobly,  not  for  himself,  but  for  his  country  and  his 
Empire.  He  did  more  than  make  a  fortune.  He  helped 
to  make  a  great  nation,  the  greatest  of  our  sister 
nations  over  the  seas,  and  to  encourage  in  that  nation 
a  larger  patriotism  which,  abating  not  one  jot  of  its 
own  local  spirit,  can  yet  impress  the  Empire  as  a  whole, 
can  think  Imperially  and  place  Imperial  interests  before 
any  local  interests,  however  important  at  the  moment 
they  may  seem.  Such  a  life  is  an  example  to  us  all; 
we  must  resolve  that  the  great  lesson  which  Lord 
Strathcona's  life  taught  shall  be  learned  by  us  all, 
and  that  each,  according  to  his  means  and  in  his  own 
capacity,  will  be  a  true  and  faithful  servant,  as  Lord 
Strathcona  was,  of  the  country  which  bred  him  and 
the  Empire  of  which  he  was  a  citizen. 

In  the  years  immediately  preceding  his  death, 
his  great  age,  his  venerable  aspect,  his  high  Im- 
perial reputation,  his  personal  rank  and  vast 
wealth,  combined  with  his  official  status  as 
Canada's  representative  to  make  of  him  a  central 
and  commanding  figure  at  Imperial  gatherings. 
Never  did  he  shirk  the  least  duty  when  his  presence 
or  his  counsel  seemed  needed  in  Canada's  interests. 
Commenting  on  his  maxim  that  patience  and  work 
were  the  best  prescription  for  health,  one  of  his 
friends  writes :  — 

To  patience  and  work  there  was  added  this:  that  he 
was  serving  others,  not  striving,  working,  planning 
for  himself,  but  bearing  a  responsibility  of  office,  of 

469 


Lord  Strathcona 

authority,  and  as  so  often  happens,  finding  stability 
under  that  burden. 

Vast  as  his  wealth  was,  his  sense  of  responsibility 
kept  him  a  constant  servant  to  the  public  interest 
as  it  also  kept  him  from  devising  fantastic  and 
pretentious  systems  of  expenditure  whose  final 
utility,  even  as  means  of  commemoration,  is  ques- 
tionable. 

To  quote  again  the  Principal  of  McGill  Uni- 
versity :  — 

He  carved  out  his  career  in  the  heroic  days  of 
Canadian  history,  —  when  individual  pioneers  were 
privileged  to  write  their  names  in  large  characters 
across  the  whole  breadth  of  a  continent.  And  after  all 
he  was  no  mere  sordid  seeker  after  gain,  nor  did  his 
material  prosperity  ever  blunt  the  edge  of  his  moral 
and  social  ideas  and  aspirations.  In  a  word,  his  soul 
was  not  submerged,  as  is  sometimes  unfortunately  the 
case,  by  the  gathering  tide  of  worldly  success.  Duty 
was  his  guiding  star  —  duty  and  conscience.  We 
ought  to  be  glad,  too,  —  ought  we  not?  —  in  our  day 
and  generation,  that  Canada  can  boast  of  him  as  a 
man  of  unspotted  integrity.  His  word  was  as  good  as 
his  bond.  But  he  carefully  weighed  nearly  every  word 
he  uttered,  and  most  certainly  every  word  he  ever 
wrote.  None  could  apply  the  pruning-knife  more 
remorselessly  than  he  to  the  language  of  any  docu- 
ment for  which  he  was  expected  to  make  himself  in 
any  way  responsible.  He  was  above  everything 
accurate  even  in  the  use  of  words.  I  fancy  he  had 
done  most  of  his  reading  in  early  life  when  in  the  long 
silence  of  Labrador  he  acquired  that  stock  of  ideas, 
and  that  power  of  expression,  which  stood  him  in  such 

470 


Agmina  Ducens 

good  stead  when  he  had  to  address  himself,  compara- 
tively late  in  life,  to  the  difficult  art  of  public  speaking.1 
And  he  could  appreciate  a  telling  phrase,  or  the 
pointed  turn  of  a  sentence.  I  remember  when  he 
asked  me  to  supply  him  with  a  Latin  motto  for  his  new 
coat  of  arms,  which  had  hitherto  contained  the  one 
English  word  "  Perseverance."  When  I  enquired  what 
idea  he  would  like  to  have  expressed,  he  half- whispered, 
"  In  the  van."  I  gave  him  "Agmina  ducens,"  and  there 
it  stands  to-day.  And  yet,  for  all  his  eagerness  to  be 
"in  the  van,"  one  can  never  think  of  him  as  anything 
but  essentially  modest  and  unassertive.  You  all  know 
what  his  bearing  was  on  the  various  occasions  on 
which  he  was  seen  in  our  midst,  —  inwardly  glad,  no 
doubt,  to  receive  the  homage  of  our  love  and  praise, 
but  genuinely  anxious  at  the  same  time,  that  no  one 
should  be  put  to  any  inconvenience  because  of  him. 
And  all  the  qualities  of  which  he  gave  evidence  in 
public  were  familiar  to  those  who  knew  him  in  his 
home.  The  death  of  his  wife,  but  ten  short  weeks 
before  his  own,  was  naturally  the  greatest  sorrow  of 
his  whole  life.  One  who  saw  much  of  him  at  the  time 
has  told  me  how  it  seemed  to  shake  his  soul  to  its 
depths,  and  thereafter  he  was  as  a  stricken  man.  The 
friends  who  met  the  aged  pair  on  the  occasion  of  their 
last  visit  to  Montreal  will  recall  some  of  the  instances 
of  the  kindly  humour  that  always  characterized  their 
intercourse  with  each  other;  and  it  is  a  satisfaction 

1  "  I  have  heard  him,"  writes  the  Reverend  Dr.  Robert  Campbell, 
of  Montreal,  "on  several  occasions  speak  of  the  manner  in  which 
he  spent  the  long  winter  nights  in  Labrador,  when  he  had  books 
only  for  his  companions.  He  used  to  laugh  when  he  mentioned  the 
variety  of  reading  matter  found  in  the  Post's  library,  and  of  the 
necessity  he  was  under  to  wade  through  some  not  very  attractive 
books,  for  lack  of  anything  more  interesting  to  occupy  his  mind 
with." 

471 


Lord  Strathcona 

to  remember,  now  that  they  are  both  gone,  that 
through  their  loving  and  devoted  daughter  their  line- 
age is  continued  in  the  third  generation. 

Lord  Strathcona  lived  a  strenuous  and  a  useful  life, 
characterized  by  courage  and  high  resolve  in  critical 
and  anxious  times.  He  always  showed  that  he  could 
"rise  to  the  height  of  great  occasions."  Alongside  of 
that  should  be  placed  the  continuous  response  of 
constant  applications  for  public  and  private  charity, 
to  which  his  resources  were  fortunately  adequate,  — 
a  charity  that  was  never  exercised,  be  it  remembered, 
in  mechanical  fashion,  but  always  with  some  personal 
touch  of  kindly  courtesy  and  consideration.  Even  in 
his  latest  days  he  was  thinking  of  what  he  could  do  for 
others:  and  it  ought  to  be  mentioned  here  that,  evi- 
dently remembering  of  his  own  accord  a  certain  pay- 
ment which  he  was  in  the  habit  of  making  to  the  Royal 
Victoria  College  about  the  time  of  the  New  Year,  he 
cabled  me  the  sum  of  forty-five  thousand  dollars, 
on  the  very  day  before  he  died.  He  was  given  to 
hospitality;  and  his  Montreal  home  was  long  a  recog- 
nized place  of  meeting  for  many  who,  under  the 
divided  conditions  of  our  civil  life,  seldom  met  any- 
where else.  He  was  full  of  the  conviction  that  in  our 
province  French  and  English  must  perforce  agree  to 
live  together,  for  the  very  good  reason  that  here 
neither  of  the  two  races  can  live  without  the  other. 

While  thus  his  personal  motto  was  "in  the 
van,"  he  never  failed  to  give  full  credit  to  others 
in  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  and  other  great 
enterprises  in  which  he  was  identified.  Albeit  non- 
partisan,  he  "heartily  sympathized  with  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain's idea  that  our  Empire  should  become  more 

472 


Aristotle's  Definition 

conscious  of  itself.  The  late  Chancellor's  contribu- 
tion to  education  constituted  no  mere  stereotyped 
or  conventional  form  of  benevolence.  In  scientific, 
medical,  and  higher  education  for  women  he  was  a 
pioneer  with  a  marked  power  of  initiative  which 
had  been  felt  all  over  Canada.  He  was  no  sordid 
seeker  after  gain,  nor  did  material  prosperity  ever 
blunt  the  edge  of  his  moral  and  social  ideals  and 
aspirations.  In  a  word,  his  soul  was  not  submerged 
by  the  gathering  tide  of  worldly  success.  A  man  of 
unspotted  integrity  throughout  his  long  career,  he 
measured  up  to  Aristotle's  definition  of  'high- 
mindedness.' ' 

And  truly  no  reader  of  the  Ethics,  bearing  Lord 
Strathcona  in  mind,  but  must  be  struck  by  the 
remarkable  appositeness  of  many  passages  in  which 
the  Greek  philosopher  dwells  upon  the  virtues 
of  ' '  high-mindedness ' '  (/xeya\oi/a>xta)  and  ' '  munifi- 
cence" (/xeyaXoTT/acVeta).  So  apposite  are  they  that 
I  offer  no  apology  for  recalling  them  here. 

Munificence  [he  says]  differs  from  Liberality  in  the 
largeness  of  the  sums  with  which  it  deals.  Its  general 
characteristic  is  magnitude;  but  this  must  be  in  rela- 
tion to  three  things:  —  the  person  who  gives,  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  gift,  and  its  object.  Hence  every 
munificent  man  is  liberal,  but  not  every  liberal  man  is 
munificent.  The  vice  or  defect  is  Meanness.  The  vice 
of  Excess,  which  we  describe  as  Bad  Taste  and  Vul- 
garity, errs  not  in  the  greatness  of  the  amount  spent, 
but  in  the  inappropriateness  in  different  ways  of  the 
expenditure.  There  is  a  sort  of  scientific  skill  implied 
in  Munificence.  This  is  needed  to  decide  under  what 

473 


Lord  Strathcona 

various  circumstances,  as  they  actually  occur  (for 
action  is  the  only  real  test  of  disposition  in  this  as  in 
other  Virtues),  great  expenditure  is  befitting  and 
appropriate.  The  occasion  must  be  worthy  of  the 
expenditure,  and  the  expenditure  of  the  occasion. 
There  must  also  be  the  same  motive  as  in  all  the  other 
virtues,  viz.,  the  desire  for  what  is  noble.  Again,  the 
munificent  act  must  be  done  cheerfully  and  un- 
grudgingly: there  must  be  no  close  calculations;  no 
considerations  of  "How  much,  or  how  little  will  it 
cost?"  but  rather,  "What  will  be  the  grandest  and 
most  appropriate  way  of  doing  it?"  And  hence  the 
munificent  man  will  necessarily  be  liberal  also;  but 
besides  the  mere  grandeur  of  the  amount  spent,  there 
is  a  grandeur  of  manner  which  imparts  a  special  lustre 
to  the  acts  of  a  munificent  man  beyond  what  would  be 
achieved  by  mere  liberality  even  with  the  same  expen- 
diture. For  a  work  and  a  possession  are  not  to  be  esti- 
mated in  the  same  way.  In  the  latter  case  there  is  only 
a  question  of  intrinsic  value;  in  the  former,  we  must 
take  into  consideration  the  grandeur  and  the  moral 
effect  produced  on  the  beholders. 

As  to  the  occasions  which  are  fitting  for  the  dis- 
play of  Munificence  [Aristotle  notices]  first,  the 
service  of  religion,  and  next,  great  public  or  patriotic 
services.  In  all  these  cases,  however,  regard  must  be 
had  to  the  social  position,  and  to  the  means  of  the  doer, 
as  well  as  the  work  done.  It  would  be  out  of  place 
for  a  man  of  small  or  moderate  means  to  aspire  to 
be  munificent.  It  is  a  virtue  reserved  for  those  of 
great  wealth,  inherited  or  acquired,  good  birth,  high 
station,  and  so  forth. 

Without  merit  they  cannot  form  the  ground  of  that 
self-esteem  which  constitutes  High-mindedness,  nor 

474 


Miss  Hurlbatt's  Recollections 

again  can  they  justify  the  superciliousness  in  which 
their  possessors  ape  the  high-minded.  Unlike  him  they 
have  no  superior  merit  to  warrant  that  feeling,  nor 
discrimination  in  its  exercise.  The  High-minded  man 
will  not  court  danger,  but  if  it  be  great  and  worthy  of 
him,  he  will  face  it  without  regard  to  his  life,  which  he 
does  not  think  worth  preserving  at  the  cost  of  honour. 
He  loves  to  confer  and  is  ashamed  to  receive  benefits, 
and  he  hastens  to  requite  them  with  increase.  He  is 
reluctant  to  ask  a  favour,  though  ready  to  confer  one. 
With  great  men  he  carries  his  head  high,  while  with 
ordinary  men  he  is  unaffected.  He  is  no  gossip:  he  is 
a  man  of  few  words,  sparing  alike  in  his  praise  and  in 
his  reproaches.  His  gait,  his  voice  and  his  manner  of 
speech  will  be  grave,  dignified,  and  deliberate.  Such  is 
the  High-minded  man.1 

To  the  judgment  of  many  of  his  contemporaries 
already  given  it  is  fitting  that  some  recollections  of 
his  traits  and  habits  of  daily  life,  by  those  closely  in 
touch  with  him,  should  be  added. 

Miss  Hurlbatt,  Warden  of  Victoria  College, 
writes :  — 

I  knew  him  only  as  a  very  old  man,  always  with  a 
certain  detachment  of  manner,  as  if  he  had  already 
passed  some  boundaries  of  time  and  space  beyond  his 
fellows,  and  while  occupied  and  keenly  interested  and 
ceaselessly  concerned  with  work  and  duty  and  service, 
really  alone  with  himself.  Perhaps  he  was  always  like 
this  —  utterly  master  of  himself  and  of  his  fate.  The 
early  years  of  discipline  and  loneliness  may  have 
worked  this  in  him.  Certain  it  is  that  whatever  he  had 
suffered  of  "fret  and  dark  and  thorn  and  chill"  had 
1  Aristotle,  Ethics,  translated  by  the  Reverend  E.  Moore. 
475 


Lord  Strathcona 

with  him  "banked  in  the  current  of  the  will"  to  uses, 
arts,  and  charities. 

Vividly  does  Miss  Hurlbatt  recall  her  first  inter- 
view with  him :  — 

I  found  him  in  his  office  in  Victoria  Street,  as  he 
has  been  seen  by  so  many  who  came  to  him  from  far 
and  near,  seated  by  his  desk  in  a  very  bare  and  un- 
pretentious room,  in  an  attitude  with  which  I  was  to 
become  familiar,  and  which  has  been  characteristi- 
cally recorded  for  us  by  Mr.  Robert  Harris  in  the  por- 
trait that  hangs  in  our  Hall,  one  hand  holding  his 
chair,  the  other  resting  on  his  knee,  an  attitude  that 
with  many  people  would  suggest  relaxation  and  would 
be  an  attitude  of  repose  —  with  him,  as  you  will  have 
noticed,  it  was  compatible  with  alertness  and  a  keen 
concentration  upon  any  affair  at  the  moment  in  hand. 
This  attitude,  apart  from  his  white  hairs  and  vener- 
able expression,  was  the  only  thing  which  suggested 
age  —  it  was  as  if  he  gave  his  body  rest  that  his  mind 
should  be  more  free  and  have  the  use  of  all  his  force.  .  . . 

I  think  that  then,  and  whenever  I  have  since  met 
him,  I  was  conscious  that  his  voice  was  a  revelation  of 
his  personality;  in  an  almost  startling  way  it  betrayed 
in  an  instant  the  man.  It  was  resonant,  far-reaching, 
almost  hard  in  the  way  every  word  and  every  inflection 
was  sent  out  to  reach  its  purpose,  every  word  convey- 
ing a  sense  of  power  behind  it.  His  voice  was  even  and 
exact  —  and  it  was  so  when  it  was  kindest  and  most 
gentle,  and  even  when  other  signs  betrayed  that  he 
spoke  with  a  sense  of  amusement. 

I  cannot  do  better  than  describe  a  certain  char- 
acteristic incident  in  Miss  Hurlbatt's  own  words. 

476 


Dr.  Grenfell's  Testimony 

It  reveals  the  tender  relationship  existing  between 
Lord  Strathcona  and  his  wife. 

On  a  winter's  morning  at  Euston  Station,  London,  as 
our  train  was  leaving  for  Liverpool,  I  caught  sight  of 
a  rather  alarming  scene  that  had  a  touching  sequel. 
The  train  was  due  to  start,  the  guard's  whistle  had 
been  blown,  but  there  was  a  moment's  pause  and  Lord 
Strathcona  was  seen  hurrying  up  the  platform  and 
mounting  the  train  as  it  began  to  move,  and  there 
behind  on  the  platform  was  the  figure  of  Lady  Strath- 
cona supported  by  four  strong  arms,  lifting  her  from 
her  feet,  so  that  she  could  see  into  the  window  of  the 
carriage  and  wave  her  farewell.  The  pathos  of  that 
figure  I  shall  not  soon  forget.  I  had  many  opportunities 
on  the  voyage  of  hearing  from  Mr.  Garson,  Lord 
Strathcona's  Scottish  agent,  and  who  counted  Lady 
Strathcona  as  his  dear  friend,  of  the  anxiety  and 
loneliness  that  these  great  undertakings  and  sudden 
partings  and  absences  caused  her,  how  Lord  Strath- 
cona wished  always  to  have  her  with  him,  but  how  she 
shrank  from  the  journeys.  It  was  said  that  when 
Lord  Strathcona  decided  upon  his  last  visit  to  Canada 
in  September,  1913,  she  again  wished  to  remain  behind, 
until  he  gently  suggested  that  perhaps  there  might  be 
for  him  no  returning.  That  was  enough,  and  we  know 
how  she  came  on  that  last  lightning  visit,  an  almost 
miraculous  effort  at  their  age. 

All  those  who  were  brought  into  close  touch  with 
him  in  his  later  years  bear  witness  to  the  same 
traits  of  character  which  his  old  fur-trading  asso- 
ciates had  long  since  noted. 

His  insistence  [writes  Dr.  Wilfred  Grenfell,  the 
famous  Labrador  missionary]  on  the  greatness  of 

477 


Lord  Strathcona 

little  things  never  failed  to  impress  those  who  came  in 
contact  with  him,  and  this  was  combined  with  his 
distrust  of  conventions,  and  emphasis  on  the  reliability 
of  plain  common  sense.  I  long  ago  realized  how  he 
came  to  be  possessed  of  that  secret  of  greatness,  and 
faculty  of  arriving  quickly  at  correct  conclusions, 
unsurpassed  even  by  a  Sherlock  Holmes. 

As  a  tiny  illustration  of  this,  once  at  breakfast  the 
lamp  under  the  hot-water  kettle  had  gone  out.  The 
butler,  apologizing,  said  he  had  forgotten  to  put  any 
spirits  into  it.  Without  the  slightest  display  of  anger, 
but  like  a  man  insisting  on  some  great  universal 
principle,  our  host  said  quietly,  "Remember,  James, 
you  have  only  certain  duties  to  perform.  This  is  one. 
Never,  under  any  circumstances,  let  such  an  omission 
occur  again."  Whatever  that  dignified  official  got  out 
of  it,  I  learned  a  truth  of  no  small  value.  In  my  own 
craft  of  surgery,  the  omission  of  some  apparently 
trifling  detail  —  and  it  is  equally  true  of  ordinary 
business  —  might  at  any  time  cause  irreparable  dis- 
aster. One  of  the  chief  reasons  why  the  Turks,  though 
a  virile  race  of  physical  fighters,  are  unable  to  hold 
their  own,  is  because  they  make  "  Fate"  or  "  Kismet" 
responsible  for  their  failures  and  neglect. 

About  twenty  years  ago  Dr.  Grenfell  arrived  in 
Montreal  just  before  Christmas  Day,  anxious  to 
get  an  early  appointment  with  Lord  Strathcona. 

He  himself  was  overwhelmed  with  engagements  and 
it  seemed  impossible  for  him  to  give  the  time  we 
sought,  and  it  looked  as  if  we  would  have  to  go  away 
without  seeing  him.  It  was  entirely  characteristic  of 
his  courtesy,  however,  that  he  should  have  replied  to 
our  request,  that  if  we  would  come  on  Christmas  Day, 

478 


A  Christmas  Day  Appointment 

he  would  be  able  to  give  us  the  time  we  desired;  but 
when  we  noticed  that  he  had  appointed  Hudson's  Bay 
House  for  the  rendezvous  on  that  day,  we  were  a  little 
surprised.  When  we  found  it,  it  was  away  downtown, 
and  a  purely  business  place,  and  we  knew  that,  of 
course,  all  the  employees  would  be  away  keeping  the 
holiday.  I  still  remember  vividly  the  deserted  streets, 
so  impressive  in  the  big  busy  centre:  the  silence  and 
the  entire  absence,  even  on  the  streets,  of  any  living 
thing,  and  at  last  the  great,  towering  portals  of  the 
world-famous  Company's  offices.  I  climbed  the  steps 
with  no  little  trepidation,  and  the  bell  startled  me, 
when  its  echoes  rang  out,  as  if  in  some  long-deserted 
haunt  of  men.  Finally,  the  great  door  swung  open,  and 
there  stood,  quite  alone,  the  smiling  old  gentleman, 
already  white-haired,  positively  apologizing  for  keep- 
ing me  waiting.  ''There's  no  one  in  the  house,"  he 
began,  "so  I  have  to  answer  the  door  myself."  Our 
amazement  at  seeing  him  there  at  all  on  that  day  was 
so  badly  disguised  that  he  went  on  to  explain  that  the 
famous  physician,  Sir  Andrew  Clark,  had  more  than 
once  warned  him  that  to  stop  work  would  be  fatal  to 
him,  and  that  he  realized  it  was  true. 

When  we  went  in,  he  was  opening  letters  from  an 
almost  endless  pile.  "These  are  all  requests  for  help," 
he  went  on.  "  I  like  to  deal  with  them  personally  when 
I  can  get  time,  but  I  have  calculated  that  if  I  granted 
them  all,  I  should  n't  have  a  single  cent  left." 

On  one  occasion  he  was  asking  me  about  old 
Labrador  acquaintances,  and  as  it  was  then  fifty  years 
since  he  had  left  the  coast,  it  might  have  been  expected 
that,  with  all  his  multiplicity  of  interests,  he  would 
long  before  have  forgotten  the  individuals.  He  hap- 
pened to  ask  after  a  certain  woman  who  had  been  his 

479 


Lord  Strathcona 

servant  so  many  years  before.  I  told  him  that  she 
had  long  ago  passed  away,  but  that  her  daughter,  who 
was  married  and  had  a  very  large  family,  had  often 
spoken  of  her  mother's  connection  with  him.  He  asked 
how  she  was  faring  with  so  many  children,  but 
appeared  to  take  very  little  notice  when  I  told  him 
that  the  family  were  having  hard  times.  However, 
the  next  time  I  visited  that  part  of  Labrador,  I  heard 
that  he  had  sent  a  special  Labrador  order  of  pork, 
flour,  molasses,  butter,  and  many  outfits  of  clothing 
for  herself  and  the  children.  The  method  of  accom- 
plishing this  was  to  us  just  another  demonstration  of 
his  greatness.  To  this  day  the  woman  is  wondering 
"where  on  earth  that  winter's  diet,  and  all  that  cloth- 
ing could  have  come  from." 

My  last  interview  with  him  was  just  before  his 
death.  He  had  come  to  the  office  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  for  the  discussion  of  a  new  policy.  While 
we  lunched,  he  sat  and  talked.  There  was  hardly  a 
line  on  his  face,  and  every  faculty  was  on  the  alert. 
He  had  come  down,  in  spite  of  the  doctor's  orders  not 
to  leave  the  house,  to  hear  what  I  had  to  say  about 
Labrador.  One  of  his  first  enquiries  was  after  the 
little  hospital  steamer,  which  for  so  many  years  had 
borne  his  name  on  the  coast.  He  was  concerned  to 
hear  that  her  boilers  had  blown  out,  and  that  she  was 
laid  up  owing  to  the  lack  of  the  necessary  funds  to 
replace  them.  It  seems  almost  superfluous  to  say  that 
he  at  once  ordered  them  to  be  replaced  at  his  expense, 
so  as  to  make  the  ship  as  efficient  as  possible,  and  the 
day  after  I  received  a  letter  to  confirm  his  wishes. 

A  gap  of  two  years  had  elapsed  since  I  had  last  seen 
Lord  Strathcona,  and  even  then  he  was  ninety  years 
of  age,  and  one  might  have  supposed  that,  so  long  after 

480 


A  Solitary  Landmark 

the  allotted  span  of  threescore  years  and  ten,  a  man 
whose  life  had  been  spent  under  such  strenuous  cir- 
cumstances must  be  verifying  the  words  of  the  psalmist, 
and  finding  his  days  "but  labour  and  sorrow."  Not  so, 
however,  with  this  man.  So  far  as  his  keen  interest  in 
life  was  concerned,  his  natural  force  seemed  in  no  way 
abated.  He  still  found  his  greatest  pleasure  in  a  full 
day's  work,  and  when  the  day  itself  had  gone,  the 
same  sufficient  satisfaction  in  the  company  of  the  long- 
time partner  of  his  life  —  and  of  their  family. 

This  time,  however,  a  blind  man  could  realize  a  vast 
difference  in  his  attitude  toward  the  world.  The  same 
interest,  the  same  courage,  but  no  longer  the  same  man. 
He  seemed  to  me  like  one  of  the  great  solitary  rocks 
of  our  barren  coast,  which,  from  time  immemorial,  far 
out  in  the  wide  ocean,  during  the  season  of  open  water, 
has  raised  its  head  above  the  gigantic  rollers  of  the 
Atlantic,  and  in  winter,  towered  over  the  resistless 
grinding  of  the  Atlantic  field  ice. 

Alone  left  of  his  generation,  Lord  Strathcona  seemed 
now  to  me  to  loom  up  as  just  such  another  wonder. 
The  discussion  on  the  business  which  had  brought  us 
together  had  come  to  an  end.  We  were  thinking  of 
saying  good-bye,  when  suddenly  he  leaned  over 
toward  me  and  said,  "You  will  let  me  know  about  the 
boilers  for  the  hospital  ship?  See  that  they  are  done 
as  well  as  they  can  be  and  come  and  see  me  before  you 
go  back  to  Labrador."  The  word  seemed  involun- 
tarily to  have  carried  his  thought  back  to  the  long- 
ago  scenes  of  that  country  where  first  he  had  met  the 
wife  whom  he  had  loved  so  truly.  It  seemed  to  me 
that  his  white  head  bent  a  little  lower,  as  he  added, 
"Doctor,  a  terrible  blow  has  come  to  me  since  you 
were  here  last,  —  terrible!  terrible! "  he  repeated. 

481 


Lord  Strathcona 

The  next  reference  which  we  saw  to  our  old  friend 
was  the  public  despatch  in  the  newspaper  telling  of  his 
death,  and  that  he  was  to  find  a  last  resting-place  in 
the  Abbey,  the  Valhalla  of  the  nation's  mighty  dead. 
But  later  came  the  news  that  his  wishes  were  to  be 
respected,  and  that  the  personal  honour,  so  much 
coveted  by  many,  found  no  echo  in  this  great  man's 
life.  He  had  chosen  to  sleep  his  last  long  sleep  by  the 
side  of  her  he  loved  so  well.  So  even  in  death  he  has 
left  the  nation  a  better  legacy  than  silver  and  gold,  in 
reminding  us  again  of  the  greatest  of  all  secrets  of  the 
greatest  of  all  lives  —  the  possession,  not  of  money, 
but  of  the  spirit  of  simple  love. 

In  religious  matters  he  was  truly  catholic:  and  in 
his  religious  benefactions  favoured  in  turn  Roman, 
Anglican,  Methodist,  Baptist,  and  Presbyterian.1 

Dr.  Archibald  Fleming,  of  the  London  Presby- 
terian Church  of  St.  Columba's,  with  which  church 
Lord  Strathcona  and  his  family  were  long  con- 
nected, thus  pays  his  tribute  to  one  who  was  "a 
great  benefactor  of  our  church  in  London":  — 

I  wish  to  speak  of  him  as  I  knew  him  —  a  humble 
Christian  and  a  deeply  religious  man.  Lord  Strath- 
cona was  a  loyal  and  generous  son  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland;  and  almost  with  his  last  breath  he  told  me 
—  as  he  had  often  done  before  —  how  deep  was  his 

1  Once  in  giving  a  donation  of  one  thousand  pounds  to  a  Roman 
Catholic  institution  he  wrote:  "Whilst  I  am  personally  more  con- 
nected with  the  Protestant  Church  and  institutions  of  the  country, 
not  the  less  have  I  a  warm  feeling  for  the  fellow-citizens  of  other 
denominations,  including  the  Catholics,  both  English-  and  French- 
speaking,  and  I  would  gladly,  as  far  as  possible,  aid  them  in  their 
efforts  for  higher  education." 

482 


His  Religious  Toleration 

affection  for  her  simple  worship,  and  how  he  valued 
her  ordinances  most  of  all. 

But  in  saying  this  he  added  —  and,  speaking  as  one 
who  was  delivering  a  testimony,  he  bade  me  repeat 
it  to  others  —  that  in  his  long  life  he  had  learned  a 
great  toleration,  and  had  come  to  realize  that  God 
reveals  Himself  to  his  faithful  people  by  the  lips  of  all 
the  churches;  for  it  had  been  his  experience  that  he 
could  receive  benefit  from  them  all;  so  that  to  him, 
denominational  distinctions,  and  even  the  distinction 
between  Protestant  and  Roman,  almost  ceased  to 
exist  in  view  of  the  great  elemental  truths  which  all, 
according  to  their  ability,  strove  to  represent;  the 
"Good  and  Great  Creator"  could  and  would  reveal 
Himself  somehow  to  us  through  them  all.  Such  was 
the  wide  sweep  of  this  great  man's  spiritual  vision,  and 
such  the  large  charity  of  his  great  heart. 

In  other  words,  Lord  Strathcona's  religion  was 
vital  rather  than  technical. 

"To  be  religious  in  the  technical  sense  of  the 
word,"  Mr.  A.  C.  Benson  remarks  somewhere,  "to 
care  for  religious  services  and  solemnities,  for 
priestly  influence,  for  intricate  doctrinal  emotions, 
implies  a  strong  artistic  sense  and  is  often  far  re- 
moved from  any  simplicity  of  conduct.  But  the 
simple  man  will  have  a  strong  sense  of  responsi- 
bility —  a  deep  confidence  in  the  will  of  God  and 
his  high  purpose." 

In  private  life  he  was  a  most  engaging  host. 

He  does  not  [testified  a  visitor  fifteen  years  ago] 
greatly  care  for  personal  talk.  He  is  too  self-contained 
and  too  watchful  to  be  drawn  out.  Control  and  a  sort 

483 


Lord  Strathcona 

of  lofty  prudence  are  expressed  by  his  bearing  and  by 
the  intrepid  look  in  his  eyes.  He  carries  with  him  the 
atmosphere  that  surrounds  all  men  who  have  dwelt 
long  in  solitude.  His  favourite  attitude  when  con- 
versing is  a  strong  folding  of  the  arms  and  a  down- 
ward, pondering  look.  His  hair  is  now  snow-white; 
his  skin  is  fresh,  and  about  him  there  is  a  pleasant 
vigour  that  is  wonderful  for  his  eighty  years.  His  talk 
is  bright,  and  he  is  equally  at  home  in  American, 
Canadian,  or  English  politics.  There  is  not  a  financial 
movement  of  importance  anywhere  in  the  world  that 
he  is  uninformed  upon,  and  his  gallery  of  acquaintances 
and  friends  is  of  amazing  extent  and  variety,  from  the 
clerk  at  some  outlandish  post  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  to  the  King  of  England. 

He  was  [relates  Sir  Thomas  Shaughnessy]  the  soul 
of  hospitality,  loved  to  have  people  about  him  as  his 
guests,  spared  no  effort  or  expense  to  contribute  to 
their  comfort  and  pleasure,  and  in  his  dealings  with  his 
fellow-men  he  was  a  model  of  courteous  consideration. 
He  never  forgot  his  old  friends. 

"A  model  of  courteous  consideration"  expresses 
but  the  exact  truth. 

The  one  thing  that  lives  in  my  memory  of  one  night 
is  not  the  singing  of  the  great  diva,  Patti,  but  the 
courtesy  of  Lord  Strathcona,  as  long  after  midnight, 
hatless  and  coatless,  his  white  hair  resplendent  in  the 
bright  electric  light,  he  insisted  on  standing  out  in  the 
cold  night  wind,  seeing  his  guests  personally  into  their 
carriages,  and  finally  sending  us,  strangers  from  a  far- 
away country,  back  to  the  hotel  in  a  carriage.1 

1  Dr.  Wilfred  Grenfell,  C.M.G. 
484 


His  Later  Reading 

The  last  forty  years  of  his  life  were  so  entirely 
given  up  to  affairs  that  he  had  little  or  no  time  for 
the  reading  of  books.  But  he  was  a  close  and  dis- 
cerning reader  of  the  newspapers.  He  showed  a 
considerable  familiarity  with  the  standard  authors 
whose  works  he  had  studied  in  his  youth.  Amongst 
the  novelists,  after  Scott,  he  had  a  relish  for 
Dickens,  whom  besides  he  much  esteemed  as  a  man. 
On  the  approach  of  the  centenary  of  Dickens's 
birth,  he  was  much  moved  when  I  told  him  that 
certain  descendants  of  the  great  novelist  were  in 
necessitous  circumstances,  owing  to  the  nature  of 
the  laws  affecting  literary  property.  "Of  course," 
he  said,  "we  must  help  them.  That  would  be  the 
best  way  to  celebrate  the  Dickens  Centenary." 1 

Lord  Lytton  had  not  been  one  of  his  favourite 
authors  (he  recalled  in  his  younger  days  having 
read  The  Last  Days  of  Pompeii) ;  he  rather  knew 
him  as  a  statesman  and  especially  as  Colonial 
Secretary.  But  when  he  leased  Knebworth,  the 
ancestral  seat  of  the  Lyttons,2  the  association  of 
the  famous  author  and  his  gifted  son  had  a  gen- 
uine interest  for  him.  But  the  old-world  beauty  of 

1  Not  only  did  he  become  one  of  the  first  subscribers  to  the  Fund, 
which  exceeded  ten  thousand  pounds,  but  later  undertook  its  in- 
vestment in  Canada  at  a  higher  guaranteed  rate  of  interest  than  was 
obtainable  by  us  in  England. 

2  The  present  Lord  Lytton  writes:  "During  the  latter  years  of 
his  life,  Lord  Strathcona,  in  spite  of  his  great  age,  was  incessantly  on 
the  move.   While  he  was  at  Knebworth  he  would  come  down  by  a 
special  train  after  dining  in  town  and  return  to  London  at  nine 
o'clock  next  morning.    At  other  times  he  would  motor  down  from 
London  on  a  Sunday  for  the  day,  returning  the  same  evening.    He 
was  the  most  active  man  for  his  age  that  I  have  ever  met." 

485 


Lord  Strathcona 

Kneb worth  was  its  greatest  charm.  He  and  Lady 
Strathcona  used  on  special  occasions  to  receive 
their  guests  in  the  great  hall,  with  its  groined  roof 
and  stained-glass  windows,  whence  the  visitors 
passed  out  into  the  gardens  beyond,  where  a  band 
usually  discoursed  sweet  music.  During  the  inter- 
vals a  couple  of  pipers  of  the  Scots  Guards  marched 
up  and  down  the  paths  playing  the  bagpipes.  Tea 
was  served  in  a  large  marquee  and  at  small  tables 
dotting  the  incomparable  lawn.  The  valuable 
pictures  and  objects  of  art  in  the  state  rooms  on 
the  first  floor  of  the  house,  he  took  pleasure  in 
showing,  as  also  Queen  Elizabeth's  chair  in  a  gal- 
lery overlooking  the  hall.  But  he  loved  most  to 
walk  about  in  the  gardens  and  converse  with  his 
friends.1 

To  a  former  colleague 

KNEBWORTH  HOUSE,  STEVENAGE  HERTS, 

May  I2th,  1907. 

To-day  is  quite  a  summer  day,  bright  and  warm,  and 
the  grounds  are  looking  very  beautiful.  A  letter  from 
our  old  friend  puts  me  in  mind  of  other  days  like  this, 
long,  long  ago  —  at  North- West  River,  Esquimaux 

1  He  once  told  me  he  shared  my  partiality  to  dwellings  having 
historical  and  personal  associations.  When  he  and  his  daughter,  the 
present  Lady  Strathcona,  paid  a  visit  to  me  at  Westerham  in  1910, 
he  evinced  the  deepest  interest  in  the  scene  of  Wolfe's  boyhood  and 
the  relics  there  assembled.  A  day  or  two  later  he  wrote  me  a  letter 
which  I  cherish,  referring  to  this  visit. 

When  I  last  saw  him  in  the  spring  of  1913  he  said,  "So  you  are 
going  to  live  in  the  old  home  of  Haliburton.  It  ought  to  be  a  fine 
inspiration  for  you.  Haliburton  was  a  very  brilliant  writer"  — 
adding  significantly,  —  "and  his  mother  was  a  Grant  of  Strath- 
spey!'' 

486 


Improvised  Hospitality 

Bay,  and  later  at  "Silver  Heights"  —  only  there  the 
peace  was  invaded  sadly  by  such  pests  as  mosquitoes 
and  black  flies. 


Many  years  ago  he  invited  a  large  and  distin- 
guished party  of  tourists,  including  two  Continental 
princes,  to  dine  and  pass  the  night  at  "Silver 
Heights"  on  their  way  through  to  the  West. 
Accommodation  being  scanty  it  was  necessary  to 
add  a  series  of  bedrooms  to  the  house  and  otherwise 
to  improvise  domestic  arrangements.  The  notice 
was  brief:  a  force  of  workmen  was  engaged,  mate- 
rials were  hastily  shipped  from  St.  Paul,  but 
although  the  work  was  pressed  forward  at  high 
speed,  the  night  of  the  party  arrived  and  the  bed- 
rooms were  not  quite  finished.  The  guests  were 
dined  at  the  club  in  Winnipeg,  a  large  staff  of 
waiters  having  been  put  into  a  strange  livery  for 
the  occasion,  and  dinner  was  protracted  until  a  late 
hour,  in  order  to  give  the  carpenters  and  furnishers 
time  to  put  on  the  finishing  touches  to  "Silver 
Heights."  In  fact  it  was  after  midnight  when  a 
welcome  telephone  message  reached  Sir  Donald  to 
say  that  his  guests  could  start  for  the  house.  By 
that  time  several  were  overcome  with  sleep  and 
perhaps  an  excess  of  hospitality!  There  was  no 
doubt  whatever  as  to  the  condition  of  the  carriage 
drivers:  they  were  intoxicated  to  a  man.  However, 
all  were  finally  got  to  Sir  Donald's  roof,  and  none, 
surveying  their  sumptuous  sleeping-quarters,  could 
have  had  the  slightest  suspicion  that  the  whole 
had  risen  like  a  mushroom  in  the  course  of  a  few 

487 


Lord  Strathcona 

hours.  Unhappily,  the  host,  having  seen  the  com- 
pany to  bed,  found  that  he  had  reckoned  without 
himself :  there  was  neither  bedroom  nor  bed  for  his 
repose.  Weary  with  his  efforts,  in  which  anxiety  had 
played  no  small  part,  he  flung  himself  into  a  chair 
and  slept  till  morning. 

Sir  Sandford  Fleming  relates  that  once,  being  in 
the  train  with  a  fishing  party,  Lord  Strathcona  in- 
vited all  to  dine  and  sojourn  with  him  for  the  night 
at  his  fishing-lodge  at  Matapedia,  which  had  for- 
merly belonged  to  the  Marquess  of  Lome  and  the 
Princess  Louise. 

Next  morning,  wishing  to  be  abroad  early  to  join  a 
friend,  I  dressed  hastily  and  descended  the  stairs  in 
the  half-light.  On  the  bottom  stair  my  feet  touched  a 
figure,  which  sprang  up,  and  I  recognized  my  host. 
Though  he  smiled  genially  and  bade  me  good-morning 
and  was  full  of  solicitude,  I  knew  he  had  been  asleep 
all  night  on  that  bottom  stair,  having  given  up  his 
bedroom  either  to  me  or  to  some  other  of  the  party. 

Reflecting  [continued  Sir  Sandford]  upon  my  long  ac- 
quaintance of  over  forty  years  with  Lord  Strathcona, 
and  remembering  so  many  traits  of  his  quiet  benevo- 
lence, I  think  one  may  say  of  him  that  he  was  a  man 
whose  greatest  happiness  was  in  making  others  happy. 

When  I  in  turn  related  Sir  Sandford 's  anecdote 
to  a  well-known  statesman  in  England,  he  ex- 
claimed :  — 

Count  upon  the  fingers  of  your  hand  the  great  men 
of  the  age  who  could  have  done  that!  Can  you  see 
Cecil  Rhodes  crouching  all  night  on  that  bottom 
stair?  Can  you  see  Pierpont  Morgan  or  Rockefeller? 


His  Favourite  Season 

Power  combined  with  humility  —  it  is  as  rare  as  it  is 
irresistible ! 

He  was,  as  has  been  aptly  said,  "studiously  care- 
less" about  his  health.  His  chief  affliction  was 
colds,  and  it  is  a  wonder  that  these  did  not,  through 
his  imprudences,  lead  to  serious  illness. 

An  old  Montreal  friend,  Mr.  C.  R.  Hosmer, 
recalls  a  typical  incident  which  happened  nearly 
twenty  years  ago. 

Lord  Strathcona  was  declared  to  be  very  ill  and 
threatened  with  pneumonia.  His  private  car  at  the 
time  was  ordered  in  readiness  for  Florida.  He  learned 
suddenly  that  his  presence  might  be  useful  in  Winni- 
peg, where  the  Manitoba  School  Question  had  come  to 
the  front.  Without  saying  a  word  to  his  doctor  or  to 
anybody,  he  ordered  his  car  to  be  attached  to  the 
Winnipeg  train  and  off  he  went.  Lady  Strathcona  was 
greatly  alarmed  and  came  to  my  office  next  morning. 
I  was  then  General  Manager  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  Telegraphs.  We  found  out  that  he  was  as  far 
as  the  north  side  of  Lake  Superior  at  the  time  and  it 
was  thirty  degrees  below  zero  there.  The  night  after 
he  arrived  in  Winnipeg  he  gave  a  banquet  to  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Boniface.  Later,  when  he  returned,  I 
spoke  to  him  of  how  deeply  concerned,  not  to  say 
alarmed,  Lady  Strathcona  had  been.  He  smiled  and 
said,  "Yes,  I  remember  that  cold  morning;  I  had  to 
break  the  ice  in  the  pitcher  when  I  got  up." 

Yet  of  the  seasons  he  loved  winter  best.  He 
liked  to  look  out  upon  a  world  bathed  in  sunshine 
—  a  world  in  which  the  trees  sparkled  with  frost, 
and  the  air  exhilarated  like  wine.  It  was  then  he 

489 


Lord  Strathcona 

would  oftenest  exclaim,  "What  a  beautiful  day, 
what  glorious  weather!"  Once  he  said  to  a  guest, 
Mr.  William  Garson,  "It  has  been  said  that  power, 
that  empire  came  from  the  north.  Northern  people 
have  always  stood  for  courage  and  unconquer- 
ability.  They  have  the  muscle,  the  wholesomeness 
of  life,  the  strength  of  will.  In  Canada  we  have 
upon  the  whole,  the  best  climate  in  the  world.  Our 
winters  may  be  cold,  but  think  of  the  dry  and  ex- 
hilarating atmosphere,  which  makes  for  health  and 
every  sort  of  alertness.  Those  who  are  accus- 
tomed to  the  North  might  taste  a  little  experience 
of  the  South,  and  the  South  might  drop  in  upon 
the  North  once  in  a  while,  doubtless  with  mutual 
advantage." 

His  London  house  was  at  first  number  53  Cado- 
gan  Square,  and  afterwards  28  Grosvenor  Square. 
But  he  long  considered  his  real  home  as  at  Mon- 
treal. His  Dorchester  Street  mansion  always  con- 
tinued as  if  its  owner  was  in  residence.  He  had 
there  a  collection  of  pictures  containing  examples  of 
Raphael,  Titian,  Turner,  Reynolds,  Gainsborough, 
Romney,  Millais,  Rosa  Bonheur,  Constable,  Con- 
stant, Alma  Tadema,  and  other  painters.  One  work 
of  art  which  he  was  fond  of  showing  was  unique  in 
its  way.  It  was  a  carving  done  by  Esquimaux  of 
the  remoter  North,  and  presented  by  them  to 
Lady  Strathcona.  It  shows  a  portion  of  an  Esqui- 
maux village,  huts  covered  with  snow,  sledges,  and 
a  kayak.  Men  and  women  are  very  cleverly 
modelled,  while  a  fox,  a  penguin,  and  a  willow 
grouse  are  carved  in  walrus  ivory.  The  whole 

490 


His  Residences 

production  is  executed  very  prettily,  and  testifies 
to  the  artistic  capacity  inherent  in  those  natives 
of  the  Arctic  regions. 

When  his  lease  of  Knebworth  expired,  he  pur- 
chased Debden  Hall  in  Essex.  In  1905,  he  had 
acquired  the  famous  Black  Corries  estate  of  Glen- 
coe,  one  of  the  finest  grouse  and  deer  preserves  in 
the  Highlands,  to  add  to  his  other  property  there. 

Black  Corries  formerly  belonged  to  the  chiefs  of 
Glencoe,  but  passed  from  the  representatives  of 
the  massacred  Macdonalds  after  the  rising  of  '45. 
It  extends  to  Rannoch  and  Black  Mount,  a  dis- 
tance of  some  twenty-five  miles,  and  adjoins  the 
estate  of  Sir  John  Stirling  Maxwell,  M.P.,  Sir 
W.  Menzies,  Lord  Breadalbane,  and  others.  The 
famous  massacre  that  inspired  Macaulay's  refer- 
ence took  place  in  1691.  That  the  character  of 
the  scenery  suggests  dark  deeds  is  confirmed 
by  Dickens,  who  described  this  part  of  Argyllshire 
as  "perfectly  terrible."  It  was  not  so  to  him. 

In  London,  Lord  Strathcona  was  a  familiar 
figure  at  the  Athenaeum  Club  in  Pall  Mall,  which 
may  be  called  the  centre  of  British  culture.  Here 
he  met  some  of  the  most  eminent  figures  of  the 
day,  and  in  one  of  its  handsome  dining-rooms  he 
delighted  to  gather  together  distinguished  men 
to  meet  Canadians  of  high  rank  on  a  visit  to  the 
Mother  Country. 

As  a  public  speaker  he  was  solid  rather  than 
brilliant,  although  there  are  passages  in  his  speeches 
of  real  eloquence.  He  had  formed  himself  on  the 
best  models  and  within  his  self-appointed  bounda- 

49i 


Lord  Strathcona 

ries  was  always  fluent  and  self-possessed.  As  an 
example  of  his  manner,  which  was  rarely  ironical 
or  patronizing,  it  may  be  recalled  that  on  one 
occasion,  in  1887,  Mr.  Edward  Blake  made  merry 
over  Sir  Donald  Smith's  glowing  picture  of  the 
future  North-West.  The  member  for  Montreal  rose 
and  remarked  gravely :  — 

The  leader  of  the  Opposition  is  very  facetious,  very 
facetious,  indeed.  He  spoke  in  a  vein  of  engaging 
pleasantry,  and  I  am  sure  we  were  all  delighted  to  see 
him  so  condescend.  Will  he  permit  me  to  tell  him  that 
I  think  he  would  live  more  and  more  in  the  affections 
of  his  fellow-citizens  if  he  would  more  frequently  ex- 
hibit that  milk  of  human  kindness,  that  sympathy  for 
his  fellow-men,  and  that  love  of  his  country  which  is 
due  from  every  one  who  is  a  citizen  of  Canada? l 

Although  he  scarcely  ever  in  his  life  was  known 
to  utter  a  too  forcible  expression,  on  at  least  one 
occasion  he  acquiesced  in  one.  It  was  after  the 
stormy  campaign  in  1 880,  in  which  he  was  defeated 
for  Parliament  by  the  late  Colonel  Scott.  On  the 
day  of  the  election  one  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany employees  named  Cole,  who  had  involved 
himself  in  many  election  bets,  each  of  which  had 
to  be  sealed  by  a  drink,  awoke  from  a  doze  in  the 
open  air  to  find  his  revered  candidate,  Mr.  Smith, 
approaching.  Cole  staggered  to  his  feet,  and  after 
a  profuse  exchange  of  courtesies,  enquired  how  the 
election  had  gone.  When  the  painful  truth  that  he 
had  been  ignominiously  defeated  had  been  dragged 

1  Parliamentary  Debates. 
492 


Vicarious  Profanity 

from  the  member,  his  supporter's  rage  knew  no 
bounds. 

"The scoundrels!"  hecried,  "the 

scoundrels!" 

The  defeated  member  rubbed  his  hands  and 
nodded  his  head  benignantly.  "Are  they  not,  Mr. 
Cole?"  he  exclaimed;  "are  they  not?" 

In  the  closing  years  his  voice  failed  him  in 
attempting  to  reach  large  assemblages. 

"I  shall  always  remember  the  last  Dominion 
Day  dinner  which  I  attended,"  recalls  a  well-known 
Canadian.  "While  the  veteran  statesman  was 
speaking,  although  by  reason  of  his  great  age  his 
words  were  only  audible  to  those  at  his  own  table, 
there  prevailed  what  I  can  best  describe  as  a 
'mighty  hush'  amongst  the  five  hundred  diners. 
As  a  Canadian  at  my  table  remarked  at  the 
speech,  'Although  we  cannot  hear  it,  you  can  bet 
your  last  dollar  that  it  is  well  worth  listening  to  by 
those  who  can." 

He  was  fond  of  stories  of  his  Scottish  country- 
men. One  which  pleased  him  highly  I  have  heard 
him  often  repeat.  A  Scot  was  once  boasting  that 
Scotch  apples  were  far  better  than  the  Canadian 
variety.  "Really,"  exclaimed  his  friend,  "you 
can't  mean  that!"  "I  do  mean  it,"  was  the 
response;  "but  I  must  premeese  that  for  my  ain 
taste  I  prefer  them  soor  and  hard." 

Another  favourite  was  the  naive  remark  of  an 
Indian,  the  shikari  of  an  English  titled  sportsman. 
"He  shot  magnificently";  adding,  "But  God  was 
merciful  to  the  beasts." 

493 


Lord  Strathcona 

One  story  told  of  his  native  town  could  hardly 
fail  to  delight  him,  although  he  professed  incredu- 
lity. The  superintendent  of  the  Forres  Sabbath 
School  had  prepared  a  list  of  questions  for  the 
junior  class.  Name  the  strongest  man;  the  wisest 
man;  the  meekest  man.  Only  one  child,  a  cynical 
little  elf  she  was,  answered  correctly:  Samson, 
Solomon,  Moses.  All  the  others  wrote  or  printed, 
according  to  their  capabilities,  opposite  the  queries, 
the  name  of  the  hero  of  their  hearts — .Lord  Strath- 
cona. There  might  be  stronger,  and  wiser,  and 
meeker  men,  but  the  junior  class  was  not  "ac- 
quainted wi'  'em." 

It  has  been  noted  that  he  was  always  abste- 
mious in  his  diet  and  latterly  became  more  so. 
Frequently  a  friend  breakfasting  with  him  was 
surprised  to  notice  that  he  drank  both  tea  and 
coffee.  Lord  Strathcona  explained  that  in  his 
younger  days,  living  often  through  necessity  in 
small  Canadian  hotels,  he  would  find  the  tea  so 
bad  that  he  would  afterwards  as  an  antidote  ask 
for  coffee.  "In  that  way,"  he  said,  his  eyes  twin- 
kling, "  I  got  into  the  habit  of  both,  so  that  I  can't 
make  breakfast  now  with  only  one  beverage." 

When  he  came  to  the  High  Commissionership, 
the  duties  of  Secretary  were  being  ably  performed 
by  Mr.  Joseph  Grose  Colmer,  C.M.G.,  and  to  this 
gentleman  and  his  successor,  Mr.  William  Griffith, 
he  gave  the  fullest  confidence  and  loyalty.  Re- 
peatedly, in  his  holograph  correspondence  with  the 
Prime  Minister,  occur  testimonials  to  their  zeal  and 
ability  and  his  desire  that  their  services  should  be 

494 


Old-fashioned  Epistolary  Methods 

acknowledged  in  a  practical  manner.  Even  for 
those  subordinates,  who  he  had  reason  to  suspect 
were  not  cordially  disposed  toward  him,  he  was 
constantly  exerting  his  influence,  and  when  these 
were  criticized  or  attacked  he  was  ever  offering  an 
apology  or  defence.  As  one  Minister  put  it  to  me, 
"  Lord  Strathcona  regarded  his  staff  as  if  they  were 
members  of  his  own  family  and  could  not  bear  to 
have  a  word  said  against  them." 

"Nothing,"  Mr.  Colmer  bears  testimony,  "was 
too  insignificant  for  his  personal  attention.  It 
was  a  favourite  saying  of  his  that  '  what  you  have 
to  do  is  worth  doing  well,'  and  that  axiom  was 
the  keynote  of  his  life.  While  not  a  great  reader 
of  current  literature,  he  was  essentially  a  well- 
informed  man.  How  he  acquired  his  knowledge 
was  often  a  surprise.  But  he  had  the  knack  of 
making  people  whom  he  knew  and  with  whom  he 
came  into  contact  talk  on  any  subject  which  inter- 
ested them  and  him,  and  in  that  way  acquired 
information  more  or  less  at  first  hand.  His  memory 
for  facts,  figures,  and  faces  was  phenomenal." 

A  characteristic  trait  of  Lord  Strathcona  was 
his  adhesion,  to  an  advanced  period  of  life,  to  old- 
fashioned  epistolary  methods.  He  long  shrank 
from  the  use  of  an  amanuensis  or  a  typewriter  as  a 
breach  of  courtesy ;  the  openings  and  subscriptions 
of  his  letters  were  patterned  on  the  old  Hudson's 
Bay  model.  Even  the  most  official  or  the  lengthiest 
letter  he  persisted  in  performing  by  hand,  at  an 
almost  incredible  cost  in  time  and  patience.  On 
one  occasion  at  least  considerable  physical  suffering 

495 


Lord  Strathcona 

was  involved.  He  had  had  the  misfortune,  twenty 
years  before  while  in  Scotland,  to  fracture  one  of 
the  bones  and  otherwise  seriously  injure  his  right 
wrist,  necessitating  complete  disablement.  His 
arm  was  put  in  splints,  and  while  chafing  under  the 
restraint  he  seized  the  occasion  to  make  a  voyage 
to  Canada  vid  New  York.  In  transit  his  arm  be- 
came worse,  the  inflammation  spread,  and  he  found 
himself  unable  to  leave  his  berth.  On  his  arrival  at 
New  York  he  was  met  by  Sir  William  Van  Home, 
who  found  him  in  a  very  feverish  and  distressed 
state.  Nevertheless,  he  insisted  on  accompanying 
his  friend  immediately  through  to  Montreal,  where 
he  was  induced  to  put  himself  in  the  care  of  a 
surgeon.  What  preyed  upon  his  mind  most  was 
that  he  had  a  number  of  letters  to  answer,  and  in 
spite  of  his  injured  hand  these  must  somehow  be 
answered. 

" But,"  urged  his  friend,  "surely  you  can  employ 
an  amanuensis." 

The  proposition  seemed  repugnant  to  him. 

"  I  Ve  never  done  such  a  thing,"  he  declared  em- 
phatically. "  It  would  give  great  offence,  I  assure 
you.  I  have  always  written  my  letters  myself  and 
I  must  do  so  now." 

Albeit,  after  considerable  expostulation,  and 
upon  a  competent  stenographer  being  produced,  he 
consented  to  try  the  experiment. 

"But  at  least  I  must  sign  the  letters,"  was  his 
stipulation.  "  Put  the  pen  between  my  fingers,  and 
although  it  will  perhaps  be  a  little  difficult  and 
painful  I  must  certainly  sign  the  letters  myself." 

496 


No  Strict  Sabbatarian 

So  duly  the  letters  were  dictated,  and  when  the 
sheets  were  brought  to  him  the  invalid  begged  to 
be  left  alone  to  consider  them  and  affix  his  signa- 
ture. A  pen  was  fastened  between  two  of  his  dis- 
engaged fingers  and  a  bottle  of  ink  placed  on  the 
table. 

When  a  couple  of  hours  later  the  secretary 
entered  to  take  charge  of  the  correspondence  and 
despatch  it,  they  found  that  to  every  letter  had 
been  added  a  postscript,  scrawled  slowly  and  pain- 
fully, explaining  how  and  why  the  writer  had  been 
forced  to  depart  from  his  lifelong  practice  of  manu- 
script and  apologizing  for  the  same. 

"And  in  each  case,"  concludes  the  narrator  of 
the  anecdote,  "the  postscript  was  longer  than  the 
body  of  the  letter!" 

On  one  occasion,  leaving  London  hurriedly  for 
Glencoe  with  an  accumulation  of  work,  he  was 
prevailed  upon  to  take  with  him  a  young  steno- 
grapher with  whom  he  was  personally  unacquainted. 
Arriving  at  his  Highland  seat  on  Saturday  evening, 
he  looked  forward  to  disposing  of  a  number  of 
pressing  letters  largely  dealing  with  his  various 
charities,  so  as  to  catch  Monday  morning's  mail. 
On  the  Sunday  morning  when  he  mentioned  his  in- 
tention to  the  stenographer,  the  latter  said:  "Oh, 
but  Lord  Strathcona,  I  'm  afraid  I  cannot  do  what 
you  ask.  I  have  never  worked  on  the  Sabbath." 

For  a  moment  Lord  Strathcona  seemed  dis- 
concerted. Then  he  said  quietly,  "Say  no  more 
about  it.  Go  and  take  a  walk  up  the  Glen." 

Relieved  at  getting  off  so  easily,  the  young  man 

497 


Lord  Strathcona 

seized  hat  and  stick  and  went  for  a  delicious  stroll, 
which  he  found  so  alluring  that  he  did  not  return 
until  near  nightfall.  Weary  and  footsore  he  ate  a 
hearty  supper  and  retired  to  bed.  Promptly  at 
midnight,  when  he  was  wrapped  in  the  soundest 
slumber,  a  thunderous  knock  at  his  door  startled 
him.  He  sprang  out  of  bed  and  encountered  Lord 
Strathcona,  taper  in  hand  and  a  winning  smile  on 
his  face. 

"Come,  Mr.  Blank  —  the  Sabbath  is  now  over, 
and  we  must  make  haste  with  those  letters,  you 
know,  so  as  to  catch  the  morning  mail." 

It  only  remains  to  add  that  by  dint  of  incessant 
industry,  the  morning  sun  had  not  risen  very  high 
over  the  Vale  of  Glencoe,  when  the  letters  were 
finally  despatched,  and  Mr.  Blank,  a  sadder  and  a 
wiser  man,  once  more  sought  his  couch  to  snatch 
a  couple  of  hours'  repose  before  breakfast. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  he  was  an  easy  taskmas- 
ter. Generally  speaking,  none  in  his  employ  held 
a  sinecure:  but  at  least  he  asked  none  to  do  that 
which  he  was  not  ready  to  do  himself.  And  idleness 
was  a  fault  he  found  it  hardest  to  condone. 

The  main  sources  of  Lord  Strathcona's  wealth 
have  already  been  revealed.  He  left  at  his  death  a 
fortune  of  several  millions,  the  bulk  of  which,  after 
the  payment  of  many  legacies  amounting  to  nearly 
a  million  sterling,  was  left  in  trust  to  his  daughter, 
who  succeeded  him  in  the  title. 

Truly  was  it  said  of  him:  "A  sound  judgment 
and  high  purpose  marked  his  great  public  bene- 
factions." The  total  amount  of  his  donations 

498 


His  Benefactions 

exceeds  a  million  and  a  half  sterling.  The  principal 
are  as  follows :  — 

King  Edward's  Hospital  Fund £200,000 

Cost  of  raising  Strathcona's  Horse 200,000 

Royal  Victoria  College  for  Women,  Montreal 200,000 

Victoria  Hospital,  Montreal  (with  Lord  Mount  Stephen).  200,000 

Victoria  Hospital  endowment 200,000 

McGill  University,  Montreal 410,000 

Yale  University 100,000 

Victoria  Hospital  (restoring  after  fire) 50,000 

Aberdeen  University 35,ooo 

Queen's  University  (Kingston) 20,000 

His  charities  of  a  private  nature,  which  were 
incessant,  were  made  with  a  kindness  and  sym- 
pathy which  won  for  him  much  personal  affection. 
A  simple  list  of  the  recipients  of  his  bounty  would 
astonish  by  its  length  no  less  than  by  the  charac- 
ter of  the  recipients. 

A  highly  characteristic  anecdote  is  related  by 
his  solicitor,  Mr.  Garson :  — 

I  was  running  over  the  stubs  of  a  cheque-book  with 
Lord  Strathcona,  checking  up  the  various  items,  when 
I  came  across  the  record  of  a  cheque  for  one  hundred 
pounds  made  out  to  a  man  whom  I  knew  to  be  un- 
worthy. Calling  Lord  Strathcona's  attention  to  it,  I 
expressed  my  surprise,  but,  as  he  made  no  comment, 
I  said  nothing  more,  and  continued  running  through 
the  stubs  of  the  cheque-book. 

To  my  amazement,  I  shortly  came  across  another 
cheque  for  the  same  amount,  made  out  to  the  same 
individual.  This  time  I  ventured  to  suggest  to  Lord 
Strathcona  that  the  man's  reputation  did  not  justify 
confidence  in  him  and  that  if  he  desired  an  investiga- 
tion, I  believed  the  reputation  would  be  amply  borne 

499 


Lord  Strathcona 

out  by  specific  evidence.  I  waited  for  a  reply,  but  he 
still  kept  silence,  and  I  went  on  looking  over  the  stubs. 
Finally,  I  came  across  a  third  cheque  for  the  same 
amount  to  the  order  of  the  same  individual.  When  I 
called  his  attention  to  it,  he  said,  in  his  quiet  way: 
"Well,  Garson,  if  one  in  twenty  is  worthy  - 

Upon  the  lesson  furnished  by  his  character  in 
this  our  age,  when  national  complacence,  indolence, 
and  luxury  have  had  need  of  the  fiery  corrective  of 
war,  I  need  not  dwell.  Industry  had  with  him  a 
sleepless  inward  monitor.  Frugality  was  a  habit; 
yet  conjoined  to  a  benevolence  which  could  never 
rest  until  those  around  him  were  happier  and  better. 
Duty  was  a  passion.  Thoroughness,  a  sense  of  per- 
sonal responsibility  and  personal  dignity,  were 
salient  traits  in  the  character  of  a  man  ever 
"scorning  delights  to  live  laborious  days." 

Amongst  ourselves,  we  should  cherish,  above  and 
beyond  all,  the  feeling  he  had  for  Canada — a  feeling 
helped  by  the  consciousness  that  he  had  assisted 
in  her  development.  It  was  akin  to  that  of  an 
engineer  in  the  powerful  mechanism  he  has  himself 
helped  to  forge  and  assemble,  fragment  by  fragment, 
and  later,  with  pride,  beholds  it  tirelessly  respond 
to  his  functioning. 

With  his  last  breath  he  served  the  Dominion. 
The  people  of  our  country  have  confronting  them 
daily,  in  their  streets  and  roads,  their  banks,  their 
schools  and  hospitals,  their  shops,  their  public 
works,  their  parks,  and  their  homesteads,  even  if 
this  record  of  his  career  had  never  been  written, 

500 


Conclusion 

abundant  reasons  for  holding  in  perpetual  rever- 
ence the  name  —  clarum  et  venerabile  nomen  — 
of  STRATHCONA. 

"  So  pass,  O  peaceful  warrior,  to  thy  rest, 
One  gentle  step  from  service  to  long  sleep, 
And  thou  art  with  the  memories  that  keep 
A  nation  steadfast,  loyal  to  the  best 
Her  hero  sons  have  by  their  lives  confest."  l 

1  Lines  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  on  his  death. 


THE  END 


Appendix 

HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY  PROFITS 

IN  the  year  1914  the  profit  from  the  Fur-Trade 
amounted  to  £55,008  55.  3d.,  and  that  from  the  Stores 

tO  £63,757  115.  ^d. 

Farm-Land  Sales,  for  the  year  ending  3ist  March 
last,  comprise  26,292  acres  for  $572,837,  an  average  of 
$21.78  per  acre.  Sales  of  Town  Lots  amounted  to 
$131,170.  Total  sales  amounted  to  £144,658  igs.  $d. 
compared  with  £1,507,362  for  the  year  preceding. 
The  balance  to  the  credit  of  the  Land  Account  is 

£451,928  I2S.  lOd. 

In  addition  to  the  dividend  on  the  Preference 
Capital  an  interim  distribution  of  15  per  cent  was 
made  on  the  Ordinary  Capital  in  January  last,  and 
a  further  distribution  of  25  per  cent  is  now  recom- 
mended, making  a  total  of  40  per  cent  for  the  year. 

The  unsold  lands  now  in  possession  of  the  Company 
amount  to  4,091,376  acres.  (From  the  Report  laid 
before  the  Shareholders,  29th  June,  1914.) 


Index 


Aberdeen,  Earl  of,  appointment  to 
Canada,  2,  153;  and  ministerial 
crisis  (1896),  154;  and  Manitoba 
schools  question,  159,  170-172; 
and  Strathcona's  Horse,  368;  at 
S.'s  funeral,  463. 

Aberdeen  University,  S.  as  Lord 
Rector,  2,  334,  335;  quater-cen- 
tenary, 407-411. 

Abbott,  j.  J.  C.,  and  Pacific  Rail- 
way scandal,  1,  464. 

Abbott,  Sir  John,  and  Canadian 
Pacific,  2,  1 19. 

Adams,  W.  H.,  to  S.  on  deteriora- 
tion of  the  Company,  2,  181;  on 
dividends  of  the  Company,  202; 
on  sacrifice  of  fellow-officer,  203 ; 
to  MacFarlane  on  Mackenzie, 
206. 

Aigneau,  Count  d',  free-trader,  2, 
205. 

Alabama  claims,  1,  204. 

Alaska,  free  navigation  of  rivers,  1, 
417;  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  posts  and 
trade  (1871),  510-512;  competi- 
tion with  Hudson's  Bay  Co., 
526-532,  2,  II,  18,  19,  22-24. 

Albert  Medal  presented  to  S.,  2, 

434- 

Alexander,  Fort,  Hudson's  Bay 
Co.  post,  S.'s  headquarters,  i, 
369,  388. 

Alexandra,  Queen,  and  S.,  2,  427; 
and  death  of  S.,  463. 

All-Red  Route,  project,  S.'s  inter- 
est, 2,  403-407. 

Allan,  Andrew,  S.'s  commercial  con- 
nection, 1,  225;  and  Pacific  Rail- 
way scandal,  464,  468. 

Allan,  Sir  Hugh,  meets  S.,  1,  213; 
S.'s  commercial  connection,  225; 
career,  460 ;  plans  Pacific  Railway, 
461;  policy  to  amalgamate  rival 
plans,  intrigue  and  bribery,  462- 
468;  campaign  contribution  to 
Ministry,  467 ;  McMullen's  black- 
mail, 468,  470. 


Amnesty  for  Riel  Rebellion,  con- 
ference on,  with  delegates,  1, 
377»  378,  497  «•;  and  assistance 
against  O'Donohue,  445-448; 
question  of  private  promise, 
449;  complication  of  Scott  exe- 
cution, 450;  Tache's  promise, 
450,  452,  453;  attitude  of  British 
Ministry,  450,  451;  temporizing 
of  Canadian  Ministry,  451-454; 
resolution  of  Manitoba  Legisla- 
ture, 454;  purchased  withdrawal 
of  Riel  from  country,  455-458, 
474,  478-482 ;  committee  of  Par- 
liament, 495;  Dufferin's  action, 
496,  497  n. 

Anderson,  James  (a),  goes  to  Eng- 
land, 1,  164;  and  Deed  Poll  nego- 
tiations, 198,  203,  219,  220,  407, 
423,  424,  429. 

Anderson,  James  (b),  on  W.  L. 
Hardisty,  1,  145;  death,  534. 

Anderson,  Jonathan,  bequest  to 
Forres,  1,  12. 

Anderson,  Tom,  death,  2,  203. 

Anglo-American  Commission  of 
1898,  2,  321,  322,  327. 

Angus,  Richard  B.,  and  St.  Paul 
and  Pacific  Railway",  2,  62,  63, 
69;  Canadian  Pacific  Syndicate, 
98. 

Annexation  to  United  States,  party 
in  Red  River  region  (1869),  1, 
241,  253  n.,  258;  O'Donohue's 
activity,  393;  S.  and  others  on 
danger  during  Riel  Rebellion, 
432-436;  Minnesota  Legislature 
and  newspaper  on,  436-439; 
Fenian  support  of  Riel,  439;  pro- 
paganda, 440-442;  O'Donohue's 
invasion  of  Manitoba,  442-449. 

Antiseptic  treatment,  frontier  prac- 
tices, 1,  134. 

Apportionment.  See  Redistribu- 
tion. 

Arbitration,  Hoar's  anecdote,  1, 
418. 


505 


Index 


Archambault,  Louis,  and  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  1,  468. 

Archibald,  Adams  G.,  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  Manitoba,  1,  379  n.\ 
arrives,  391;  and  disorders,  395, 
396;  opens  first  Legislature,  402- 
404;  and  O'Donohue's  invasion, 
appeal  to  Riel,  445-447,  497  n.; 
and  bribe  to  Riel,  455,  457,  479, 
481. 

Argentine,  encouragement  to  im- 
migrants, 2,  283  n. 

Argyll,  Duke  of  (Marquess  of 
Lome),  on  Canadian  Pacific,  2, 
127;  letter  from  S.,  152;  on  S., 
253,  266,  283;  on  Canada  and 
South  African  War,  364;  and 
testimonial  to  S.,  419;  on  death 
of  S.,  453;  at  S.'s  funeral,  463. 

Aristotle,  on  high-mindedness,  2, 

473-475- 
Armit,     Secretary     of      Hudson's 

Bay  Co.,  1,  407. 
Arnold-Forster.  H.  O.,  and  Dun- 

donald  controversy,  2,  397,  398. 
Assuapmoussin,      Hudson's      Bay 

Co.  post,  1,  76  ». 
Athabasca,  free-traders  at,  2,  22. 
Athenaeum  Club,  2,  491. 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  Transit  and 

Telegraph  Company,  1,  186. 
Atlantic  cable,  plans  for  sectional 

(1860),  1,  157,  158;  S.  and  com- 
pletion, 211,  212. 
Australia,  S.  and  federation,  2,  274, 

322,  329,  359-361,  377- 
Austria,  restrictions  on  emigration, 

2,  281,  287,  291-293;  working  of 

Canadian  propaganda,  294. 

Babel,  Pere,  missionary,  1,  88;  mis- 
sion to  North-West  River,  223. 

Back,  and  John  Stuart,  1,  31. 

Baker,  Archer,  and  visiting  colo- 
nial Premiers  (1897),  2,  259. 

Ballantyne,  R.  M.,  on  Tadousac,  1, 

77- 
Ballin,  Albert,  and  emigration  to 

Canada,  2,  297-301. 
Bank  of  Montreal,  S.'s  connection, 

1,  138,  214,  2,  461. 
Bannatyne,  A.  G.  B.,  on  Howe  in 

Red  River  region,  1,  257. 
Barber,  Jimmy,  free-trader,  2,  24. 
Baring,    Thomas,    Grand    Trunk 

Railway,  1,  459  ». 


Baring  Bros.,  and  Canadian  Paci- 
fic, 2,  120,  121. 

Barlow,  Sir  Thomas,  as  S.'s  physi- 
cian, 2,  440,  442,  444. 

Barnston,  George,  and  reorganiza- 
tion of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  181 ; 
corresp.  with  S.,  199;  death, 2,  31. 

Barton,  Major-Gen.,  on  Strath- 
cona's  Horse,  2,  367. 

Bauerman,  Hilary,  in  Labrador,  1, 
214. 

Beauharnois,  in  Rebellion  of  1838, 
1,69. 

Beaver,  as  unit  of  value,  1,  81,  113, 
114. 

Bebel.  See  Babel. 

Begg,  Alexander,  on  S.'s  arrival  at 
Fort  Garry,  1,  323  n. 

Belanger,  Horace,  to  S.  on  retire- 
ment, 2,  191 ;  death,  192,  194. 

Belgium,  and  Canadian  preferen- 
tial tariff  law,  2,  252. 

Bell,  Peter  W.,  to  S.  on  salmon 
traffic,  2,  184;  to  MacFarlane  on 
appointment  of  officers,  194;  to 
S.  on  conditions  at  Ungava,  195; 
on  right  to  furlough,  204;  death, 
S.  on,  208. 

Benson,  and  reorganization  of 
Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  177. 

Benson,  A.  C.,  on  technical  religion, 
2,  483- 

Berens,  H.  H.,  and  claim  to  Red 
River  region,  1,  169;  and  reor- 
ganization of  the  Company,  173, 
177,  178;  and  fund  for  wintering 
partners,  502. 

Berlin  University,  S.  at  centenary, 
2,  427,  428. 

Bernard,  Mountague,  Joint  High 
Commission,  1,  411-418. 

Bersimits,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
post,  attached  to  Labrador  dis- 
trict, 1,  223. 

Bersimits   River,  described,  1,  89. 

Betournay,  Justus,  charge  of  S.'s 
undue  influence,  2,  83,  84. 

Black,  Judge  John,  delegate  to 
Ottawa,  1,  349,  350,  376,  497  n. 

Black,  Rev.  John,  and  opening  of 
Manitoba  Legislature,  1,  403. 

Black  Cprries  estate,  2,  491. 

Black  flies,  plague  in  Labrador,  1, 
112. 

Blackfeet  Indians,  condition 
(1873),  1,  533- 


506 


Index 


Blake,  Edward,  and  reorganization 
of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  177; 
and  Canadian  Pacific  Railway, 
2,  99,  101,  114;  and  Manitoba 
schools  question,  179;  S.'s  sar- 
casm, 492. 

Blockade  running,  Canadian  in- 
vestments, 1,  217. 

Bonds,  British  guaranty  of  Cana- 
dian, 2,  327. 

Borden,  Sir  Frederick,  and  Strath- 
cona's  Horse,  2,  348;  quarrel  with 
Hutton,  349;  letter  from  S.,  420. 

Borden,  Sir  Robert  L.,  on  Dundon- 
ald  controversy,  2,  398  n.;  Min- 
istry, 432;  on  relations  with  S., 
432-434;  letters  from  S.,  435, 
436.  43  7 1  444.  446;  and  article 
attacking  Canadian  credit,  438; 
and  charge  of  understanding 
with  Unionists,  439;  and  S.'s 
desire  to  resign,  441-443;  tribute 
to  S.,  454-456. 

Boscowitz,  free-trader,  2,  24,  25. 

Bouchette,  R.  S.  M., Canadian  rebel, 

1.  54- 

Boulton,  Major,  on  contest  over  S.'s 
papers,  1,  331  n.;  rising  against 
Riel,  350-352,  364,  37i;  saved 
from  execution,  352,  353. 

Bourassa,  Henri,  S.  on,  2,  385. 

Bowater,  Sir  Vansittart,  on  death 
of  S.,  2,  453;  at  S.'s  funeral, 

463- 

Bowell,  Sir  Mackenzie,  and  Riel, 
1,  481,  496;  ministerial  crisis 
(1896),  2,  153,  154;  and  Mani- 
toba schools  question,  165,  166; 
and  High  Commissionership  for 
S.,  214;  at  Pacific  Cable  Confer- 
ence, 221;  yields  Premiership, 
231 ;  tribute  to  S.,  457. 

Bown,  Walter  R.,  intrigue  in  Red 
River  region,  1,  257. 

Bompas,  William  C.,  and  Indians, 
2,27. 

Boy  Scouts,  S.  on,  2,  421. 

Brazil,  encouragement  to  immi- 
grants, 2,  283  n.,  292. 

Bridge,  Sir  Frederick,  at  S.'s  fun- 
eral, 2,  462. 

Bright's  disease,  frontier  remedy, 
i,  156. 

Bristol,  S.  on,  and  steam  transpor- 
tation, 2,  325. 

British  Columbia,  gold  (1877),  2, 


15;  and  transcontinental  rail- 
way, 49,  50. 

Brock,  Isaac,  centenary  of  death, 
2,  434- 

Broughton,  W.  K.,  on  character  of 
pension,  2,  193. 

Brown,  George,  and  Canadian 
claim  to  North-West  Territory, 
1,  218;  and  Pacific  Railway  scan- 
dal, 464. 

Bruce,  John,  in  Riel  Rebellion,  1, 
265;  on  Mactavish  and  opposi- 
tion to  Canada,  275  n. 

Bruchesi,  Paul  L.  M.,  and  trouble 
in  McGill  University,  2, 358,  359^ 
tribute  to  S.,  458. 

Brydges,  Charles  J.,  Grand  Trunk 
Railway,  1,  459  n.;  and  Allan's 
plan  for  Pacific  Railway,  463; 
Land  Commissioner  of  Hudson's 
Bay  Co.,  2,  20. 

Buckingham,  Duke  of,  and  nego- 
tiations for  transfer  of  North- 
West  Territory,  1,  235. 

Buffalo  Lake  Indians,  1,  532. 

Bulldog,  on  coast  of  Labrador 
(1860),  1,  157,  158. 

Buller,  Sir  Redvers,  and  Strath- 
cona's  Horse,  2,  349,  369. 

Bunn,  Thomas,  and  Riel  Rebellion, 
1,  336. 

Burpee,  and  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way, 1,  472  n. 

Butler,  Sir  William  F.,  on  Hudson's 
Bay  Co.,  1,  155;  on  Riel,  242; 
on  expedition  against  Riel,  389; 
on  disorders,  390;  on  Riel's 
flight,  391,  393;  movements, 
534,  536;  to  MacFarlane,  on  the 
Company  and  wintering  part- 
ners, 2,  41,  43;  letter  from  S., 
152- 

Cabinet.  See  Ministry. 

Cairns,  Sir  Hugh,  and  Hudson's 
Bay  Co.'s  Deed  Poll,  1,  221. 

Caledon,  Lord,  tour  with  George 
Simpson,  1,  74. 

Caledonian  Bank,  failure,  2,  17. 

Cameron,  death,  1,  203. 

Cameron,  D.  R.,  and  Riel  Rebel- 
lion, 1,  267;  and  McDougall,  318. 

Campbell,  Robert,  and  Deed  Poll 
controversy,  1,  222,  407,  423; 
at  Carlton,  2,  5;  to  S.  on  Indians 
under  the  Company,  9;  on  treat- 


507 


Index 


'  ment  of  wintering  partners,  16; 
on  ruin  for  fur-trade,  517. 

Campbell,  Rev.  Robert,  on  S.'s 
reading,  2,  471  n. 

Canada,  S.  and  Rebellion  of  1837, 
1,  38-40,  52,  53;  conditions 
(1838),  45,  46;  Durham's  rule, 
52-54;  Rebellion  of  1838,  68-70; 
origin  of  name,  85;  Dominion 
proclaimed,  224;  first  Ministry, 
224;  prophecies  of  strength  and 
loyalty,  430,  431;  S.  on  progress 
under  Victoria,  and  future  great- 
ness, 2,  146,  223,  253,  267,  382, 
394,  402;  S.  on  loyalty,  224;  S. 
as  interpreter  of,  to  England, 
234;  and  Jubilee  of  1897,  251, 
276;  S.  and  "Our  Lady  of  the 
Snows,"  254;  paucity  of  news  in 
British  papers,  256-^258;  S.'s 
resentment  of,  detractions,  422- 
424,  437-439;  drain  of  British 
funds,  436,  437;  S.'s  services, 
500. 

Canada  Central  Railway,  absorbed 
by  Canadian  Pacific,  2,  112. 

Canada  Land  and  Improvement 
Company,  1,  468  ». 

Canadian  Gazette,  on  Strathcona's 
Horse,  2,  342. 

Canadian  High  Commissioner.  See 
Strathcona  (High  Commissioner). 

Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  first 
resolution  of  Parliament  for  a 
railway  subsidy,  1,  459;  plans  of 
Grand  Trunk,  459;  Allan's  com- 
pany, 460-462;  plan  to  amalga- 
mate rival  interests,  bribery, 
462-468;  Allan's  campaign  con- 
tribution, 467;  provisional  board 
of  directors,  467;  charter,  468; 
construction  contract,  468  n.; 
exposure  of  campaign  contribu- 
tion, fall  of  Ministry,  468-478; 
as  monopoly,  2,  28;  attempted 
piece- meal  construction  by  Gov- 
ernment, 49;  S.  on  need  (1876), 
50;  Dawson  route,  51-53;  S.'s 
early  disbelief  in  private  con- 
struction, 55,  56;  controversy 
over  route  through  Manitoba, 
56-59»  73-76;  failure  of  govern- 
mental construction,  92;  Mac- 
donald's  policy,  92-94;  negotia- 
tions for  private  construction, 
94-98;  terms  of  construction,  98; 


opposition,  99-101;  S.  on  spirit 
of  syndicate,  102;  construction, 
Van  Home,  102-104;  financial 
troubles,  loans  from  Canadian 
Government,  104-109,  114-120, 
124  n. ;  pays  running  expenses 
during  construction,  107;  ob- 
struction by  rivals,  no,  135  «.; 
opposition  to  governmental  loans, 
111-114;  connection  of  Baring 
Bros.,  120,  121 ;  last  spike,  122; 
branch  line  to  S.'s  home,  124, 
125;  first  through  train,  125; 
achievement,  effect  on  Domin- 
ion, 125-131 ;  honors  to  construc- 
tors, 128;  S.  on  early  through 
freight,  129;  S.  and  construction, 
131,  132;  effect  in  fifteen  years, 
132. 

Cantlie,  James  A.,  and  S.'s  return 
to  Parliament,  2,  135. 

Cardwell,  Edward,  and  opening'  of 
North- West  Territory,  1,  189, 
218. 

Caribou,  protective  coloring,  1, 
105. 

Carlton,  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  post, 
steamer  to,  1,  536,  538. 

Cartier,  Sir  George  E.,  and  negoti- 
ations for  transfer  of  North-West 
Territory,  1,  235  ».,  236,  380; 
and  survey  in  Red  River  region, 
243;  and  delegates  from  North- 
West,  377,  378;  and  S.  as  M.P., 
404;  and  Joint  High  Commis- 
sion, 416;  and  amnesty  for  Riel 
Rebellion,  450,  452,  456;  resolu- 
tion for  Pacific  Railway,  459;  and 
Pacific  Railway  scandal,  459, 
462,  465-467,  471;  election  in 
Manitoba  (1872),  493. 

Cartwright,  Sir  Richard  J.,  on  Wm. 
McDougall,  1,  268  n.;  on  Mac- 
donald  and  amnesty  for  Riel 
Rebellion,  458;  on  Pacific  Rail- 
way scandal,  469;  on  Canadian 
Pacific,  2,  132. 

Case,  George  W.,  and  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  1,  461. 

Castor,  as  unit  of  value,  1,  81,  113, 
114. 

Chamberlain,  Austen,  on  S.  as  il- 
lustrating opportunities,  2,  468. 

Chamberlain,  Joseph,  and  Mani- 
toba schools  question,  2,  178, 
179;  S.  on,  and  Imperialism,  222, 


508 


Index 


365,  374..  390-393;  and  S.,  230; 
on  appointment  of  Minto  to 
Canada,  323;  and  Canadian 
resolution  on  South  African  War, 
331-333;  S.  on  tariff  reform,  337, 
387-390;  and  Strathcona's  Horse, 
338»  369;  and  recall  of  Hutton, 
349.  35°;  and  Canadian  batta- 
lion for  Rhodesia,  352,  353;  and 
descent  of  S.'s  peerage  to  daugh- 
ter, 355,  356;  on  Imperial  inter- 
est in  memorial  to  Victoria,  383, 
384;  on  royal  visit  to  Canada, 
384;  question  of  official  colonial 
banquet  to,  on  retirement,  390. 

Chapleau,  Sir  Adolphe,  on  Cana- 
dian Pacific,  2,  127. 

Charles,  William,  to  S.  on  treat- 
ment of  wintering  partners,  1, 
§19,  2,  42;  letter  from  S.,  n;  to 
.  on  future  of  British  Columbia, 
14;  on  Boscowitz,  25. 

Charlton,  John,  on  Canadian  Pa- 
cific, 2,  111;  American  Joint 
Conference,  322. 

Cheeryble  Brothers,  originals,  1, 
20,  24,  25. 

Chicago,  opportunity  (1857),  1, 
146. 

Chicoutimi,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
post,  1,  76  n. 

Chicora,  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal 
incident,  1,  383-388. 

Chile,  encouragement  to  immi- 
grant?, 2,  283  n. 

Chimo,  Thomas,  Nascopie   chief, 

1,  104. 

Chipewyan  Indians,  1,  532. 

Christie,  Alexander,  and  Deed  Poll 
controversy,  1,  222;  death,  534. 

Christie,  David,  and  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  1,  467. 

Christie,  William  J.,  and  Deed  Poll 
controversy,  1,  222;  and  O'Don- 
ohue's  invasion,  448;  move- 
ments, 536;  to  S.  on  gloomy  fu- 
ture of  fur-trade,  2,  12,  180. 

Churchill,  Lord  Randolph,  S.  on 
political  action  (1887),  2,  136. 

Circee  Indians,  1,  534. 

Clark,  Sir  Andrew,  S.'s  physician, 

2,  479- 

Clark,  W.,  to  S.  on  transportation, 

2,5- 

Clarke,  H.  J.,  in  Manitoba  Assem- 
bly, 1,  403. 


Clarke,  Lawrence,  and  claim  of 
wintering  partners,  1,  424;  and 
O'Donohue's  invasion,  448;  to 
S.  on  conditions  at  York  Fac- 
tory, 532. 

Close,  James  R.,  and  Deed  Poll 
negotiations,  1,  198. 

Clouston,  Sir  Edward,  and  Strath- 
cona's Horse,  2,  339,  341. 

Cochrane,  Henry,  at  opening  of 
Manitoba  Legislature,  1,  403. 

Colbourne,  Sir  John,  and  rebellion, 
1,69. 

Colmer,  Joseph  G.,  as  S.'s  secre- 
tary, 2,  494;  on  S.'s  traits,  495. 

Colville,  Eden,  and  reorganization 
of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  177, 
186;  on  impression  of  S.,  194; 
Governor  of  Hudson's  Bay  Co., 
2, 33;  and  wintering  partners,  1 83. 

Committee  of  1857,  investigation 
of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  148^-152. 

Congress  of  Chambers  of  Com- 
merce, 2,  224. 

Connaught,  Duke  of,  Governor- 
General,  2,  431;  on  S.,  435;  trib- 
ute to  S.,  453. 

Connolly,  Henry,  and  S.,  1,  109. 

Connolly,  William,  1,  109  n.;  and 
paper  money,  114. 

Cooke,  Jay,  and  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway,  1,  461,  468  ». 

Corcoran,  death,  1,  203. 

Cotter,  James  L.,  to  S.  on  condi- 
tion of  wintering  partners,  2,  39; 
destitution  of  family,  182. 

Councils  of  wintering  partners,  2t 
3,  35,  186,  194. 

Coursol,  Charles  J.,  and  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  1,  468. 

Cowan,  William,  and  Riel  Rebel- 
lion, 1,  340  n.,  346,  348  ».,  349, 
350;  in  London  on  claims  of 
wintering  partners,  407,  424; 
treatment  by  Company,  518. 

Cowie,  Isaac,  on  duties  at  fur-trad- 
ing post,  1,  80  n.',  on  life  at  trad- 
ing post,  113. 

Cox,  on  Peter  Ogden,  1,  33  n. 

Craigellachie,  B.  C.,  origin  of  name, 
2,  123  n. 

Craigellachies  of  Strathspey,  1,  6. 

Cree  Indians,  condition  (1873),  1, 

533- 

Gumming,  Cuthbert,  fur-trader,  1, 
18. 


509 


Index 


Curley,    Thomas,    attempted    in- 
vasion of  Manitoba,  1,  444. 
Customs.  See  Tariff. 

Dallas,  Alexander  G.,  as  head  of 
Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  170;  and 
control  of  North- West  Territory, 
171;  on  reorganization  of  Com- 
pany, 182,  183;  and  Deed  Poll, 
220;  resigns,  236;  on  Company's 
decline  in  Red  River  region, 
240  n. 

David,  L.  O.,  and  history  of  Hud- 
son's Bay  Co.,  2,  197  n. 

Davidson,  Sir  Charles,  tribute  to 
S.,  2,  460. 

Davin,  Nicholas  F.,  and  Manitoba 
schools  question,  2,  172. 

Davis,  J.  C.  Bancroft,  on  Chicora 
incident,  1,  386. 

Dawson,  on  Forres,  1,  3  n. 

Dawson,  Simon  J.,  report  on  Red 
River  region,  1, 168;  and  survey 
in  Red  River  region,  244;  on 
Canadian  Pacific,  2,  114,  118  n. 

Dawson  route,  2,  51-53. 

Dease,  Peter  W.,  explorer,  1,  70. 

Dease's  House,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
post,  1,  529. 

Deceased  wife's  sister,  S.  and  bill 
to  legalize  colonial  marriages,  2, 
316-321. 

Deed  Poll  of  1821,  and  reorganiza- 
tion of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1, 184, 
185, 196-199,  203,  204,  219;  new, 
513-516,  518,  521,  522.  See  also 
Wintering  partners. 

De  Grey  and  Ripon,  Earl,  Joint 
High  Commission,  1,  411-418. 

Delorme,  Pierre,  member  of  Do- 
minion Parliament,  1,  404. 

Denmark.  See  Scandinavia. 

Dennis,  Stoughton,  and  surveys 
and  trouble  in  Reid  River  region, 
1,  244,  247-249,  266;  and  Riel 
Rebellion,  267;  and  McDougall's 
proclamation,  285-289. 

Derby,  Earl  of,  retires  from  Gov- 
ernor-Generalship, 2,  153;  and 
Strathcona's  Horse,  368. 

Desjardins,  Alphonse  and  Mani- 
toba schools  question,  2,  173. 

Des  Rivieres,  R.,  Canadian  rebel, 

li  54- 
Devlin,  C.  R.,  letter  from  S.,  2, 

385. 


Dickens,  Charles,  originals  of 
Cheeryble'Brothers,  1,  20,  24, 25; 
S.  and  centenary,  2,  485. 

Dickey,  Arthur  R.,  and  Manitoba 
schools  question,  2,  173. 

Disraeli,  Benjamin,  on  S.'s  report 
on  Riel  Rebellion,  1,  374. 

Dogs,  distemper,  1,  163. 

Dominion  Day,  S.'s  celebrations 
as  High  Commissioner,  2,  231, 
321,  401. 

Donalda  Department,  2,  151,  233. 

Donelly,  ].  J.,  attempted  invasion 
of  Manitoba,  1,  444. 

Doukhobors,  in  Canada,  2,  305. 

Draper,  William  H.,  on  future  of 
Western  Canada  (1857),  1,  152. 

Drummond,  George  A.,  on  Canada 
and  South  African  War,  2,  366. 

Dufferin,  Marquis  of,  on  weakening 
of  power  of  Hudson's  Bay  Co., 
1,  238  n.;  on  Riel  Rebellion, 
284  ».;  and  amnesty  for  Riel 
Rebellion,  448  n.,  496,  497  n.;  on 
Pacific  Railway  scandal,  470  n.; 
S.  on,  2,  325. 

Dugas,  and  S.,  1,  81-85. 

Dugas,  Rev.  George,  at  opening  of 
Manitoba  Legislature,  1,  403. 

Dundonald,  Earl  of,  and  Strath- 
cona's Horse,  2,  366,  368,  369; 
controversy  in  Canada,  395-398. 

Durham,  Earl  of,  in  Canada,  1,  52- 
54,68. 

Economist,  S.  and  article  attacking 
Canadian  credit,  2,  437-439. 

Edgar,  J.  D.,  on  1897  and  Imperial- 
ism, 2t  250. 

Education,  S.  on  technical,  2,  138, 
139;  S.'s  endowment  for  higher 
education  of  women,  Royal  Vic- 
toria College,  147, 151,  333,  377- 
380;  S.'s  address  as  Chancellor 
of  McGill,  149. 

Edward  VII,  and  Strathcona's 
Horse,  2,  367;  at  centenary  of 
Aberdeen  University, 408;  death, 
426;  and  S.,  427. 

Egg  Island,  wreck  of  Walker's 
fleet,  1,  89. 

Elgin,  County  of,  aspect,  1,  2. 

Ellice,  Edward,  Sr.,  and  S.,  1,  41, 
57,70;  and  Rebellion  of  1838,  69; 
and  Committee  of  1857,  151, 
152,  169. 


510 


Index 


Ellice,  Edward,  Jr.,  on  policy  of 
Hudson's  Bay  Co.  towards  em- 
ployees, 1,  63;  and  reorganiza- 
tion of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  178. 

Eisner,  Moravian  missionary  in 
Labrador,  1,  132. 

Emerson.  See  Pembina. 

Emigration,  Scottish,  1,  7,  8.  See 
also  Immigration. 

Enterprise,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
steamer  on  Puget  Sound,  2,  14. 

Esquimaux,  Southern,  1, 97;  origin, 

L  107;  and  Moravian  missionaries, 
1 08,  132;  odour,  116;  native  re- 
ligion, 131. 

Esquimaux  Bay,  described,  1,  97- 
101, 114-116. 

Ewart,  J.  S.,  on  surveys  in  Red 
River  region,  1,  250  n.;  on  Riel  s 
reception  of  S.,  325  n. 

Fargo,  W.  G.,  and  Canadian  Pa- 
cific Railway,  1,  461. 

Farley,  James  J.,  and  St.  Paul  and 
Pacific  Railway,  2,  70-73. 

Farm,  S.'s  at  North- West  River,  1, 
124-127,  147,  158,  160. 

Federation,  S.  and  colonial,  2,  274, 
322,  359-361. 

Fenchurch  Street  building,  suit,  1, 
220,  226,  421. 

Fenians,  raid,  1,  205,  231;  precur- 
sors, 230;  organization,  230,  231 ; 
warn  S.,  312,  313;  and  Chicora 
incident, 385;  and  Riel  Rebellion, 
438,  439;  attempted  invasion  of 
Manitoba  (1871),  442-449. 

Ferguson,  Sir  James,  and  Strath- 
cona's  Horse,  2,  369. 

Ferland,  Pere,  missionary,  1,  88. 

Ferrier,  James,  Grand  Trunk  Rail- 
way, 1,  459  n. 

Fertilizer,  S.  and  fish,  1,  137. 

Field,  Edward,  and  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries in  Labrador,  1,  131. 

Fielding  Tariff  Law,  2,  252. 

Finlayson,  Duncan,  1,  70. 

Fish,  Hamilton,  Chicora  incident, 

1,  385. 

Fish,  S.  and  fertilizer  from,  1,  137; 
S.  on  diet,  142. 

Fisheries,  S.  on  Manitoba,  1,  406; 
expiration  of  reciprocity  and 
controversies,  408;  controversy 
before  Joint  High  Commission, 
•410-418.  See  also  Salmon. 


Fitzpatrick,  and  Manitoba  schools 
question,  2,  178,  179. 

Flag  of  Riel  Rebellion,  1,  336. 

Fleming,  Archibald,  on  S.,  2,  451, 
452;  at  S.'s  funeral,  466;  on  S.'s 
religion,  482. 

Fleming,  Sandford,  and  develop- 
ment of  North- West  Territory, 
1,  171;  and  Canadian  Pacific,  2, 
56>  57.  99.  107,  124;  on  S.'s  hos- 
pitality, 488. 

Fletcher,  William,  at  opening  of 
Manitoba  Legislature,  1,  403. 

Flint,  Thomas  B.,  and  Manitoba 
schools  question,  2,  172. 

Fond  du  Lac,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
post,  1,  532. 

Forres,  described,  1,  1-5;  origin 
of  name,  2  n.;  Anderson's  Insti- 
tution, 12;  railway  connection, 
194. 

Forres  Pillar,  1,  4. 

Forster,  H.  O.,  Arnold-.  See  Ar- 
nold-Forster. 

Fortescue,  James,  on  rights  of  win- 
tering partners,  1,  426-428,  508, 
509,  512,  513;  on  steamers,  512; 
on  S.  and  Directorate  of  Com- 
pany, 2,  35. 

Foster,  A.  B.,  and  Pacific  Railway 
scandal,  1,  464,  467. 

Foster,  George  E.,  and  ministerial 
crisis  (1896),  2,  153;  and  site  for 
High  Commissioner's  office,  444. 

Fox,  value  of  fur,  1,  81. 

Fraser,  Malcolm,  seigniory,  1,  52. 

Fraser,  Simon,  explorations,  1,  15, 
16;  character,  16  n. 

Fraser,  Thomas,  correspondence 
with  S.,  1,  163,  165,  191;  on  win- 
tering partners  and  reorganiza- 
tion of  Company,  181,  182;  on 
S.,  228. 

Fraser  River,  discovery,  1,  16. 

Fur-trade.  See  Hudson's  Bay  Co., 
Strathcona  (Hudson's  Bay  Co.). 

Free-traders,  Alaskan  competition, 
1*526-532,2,  II,  18, 19, 22-24;  in 
North-West  Territories  (1873), 
535.  536,  2,  205;  S.  on,  1,  536;  in 
British  Columbia,  2,  24. 

French  Canadians,  and  North- 
West  Territory  (1869),  1,  238; 
S. on, 2, 144, 155  n. ; 224, 254, 276. 

Furness,  Sir  Christopher,  and  fast 
Canadian  line,  2,  386. 


Index 


Gaddy,  in  Riel  Rebellion,  1,  361. 

Gait,  Sir  Alexander  T.,  tariff  pol- 
icy, Montreal  protest  (1866),  1, 
209-211;  in  Ministry,  224;  reso- 
lution for  Pacific  Railway,  459; 
Canadian  High  Commissioner, 
2,  216. 

Gardiner,  A.  GM  aphorism  on  S., 
2,  230  n. 

Gardiner,  J.  P.,at  opening  of  Mani- 
toba Legislature,  1,  403. 

Garry,  Fort,  seized  by  Kiel,  1,  277. 

Gauvin,  H.  A.,  Canadian  rebel,  1, 

54- 

George  V,  visit  to  Canada,  pre- 
cautions, 2,  384,  385,  416. 

Georgetown,  Minn.,  Hudson's  Bay 
Co.  post,  massacre,  1,  316. 

Germany,  restrictions  on  emigra- 
tion, 2,  281,  288,  291-293,  297, 
300;  complaints  of  Canadian 
activity,  293,  294;  and  Canadian 
preferential  tariff  law,  252;  S.  on 
militarism,  428. 

Girard,  M.  A.,  in  Manitoba  Assem- 
bly, 1,  403. 

Gladstone,  William  E.,  and  S.'s 
report  on  Riel  Rebellion,  1,  374. 

Glasgow,  bank  failure,  2,  17. 

Glyn,  C.  C.,  and  reorganization  of 
Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  177. 

Glyn,  Henry,  and  reorganization 
of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  177. 

Godbout,  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  post, 
1,  77,  78,  88. 

Goddu,  T.  H.,  Canadian  rebel,  1, 

54- 

Goodridge,  Hunt  &  Henley's  agent 
in  Labrador,  1,  167. 

Goschen,  George  T.,  Governor  of 
Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  2,  16;  and 
Imperialism,  227;  from  S.  on 
development  of  Hudson's  Bay 
region,  245. 

Goudy,  Toe,  of  Labrador,  1,  142. 

Gouin,  Sir  Lomer,  tribute  to  S.,  2, 

457- 

Governor-Generalship,  S.  and  sug- 
gestion, 2,  268,  354. 

Grahame,  Cyril,  at  opening  of 
Manitoba  Legislature,  1,  403. 

Grahame,  J.  Ogden,  to  S.  on  treat- 
ment by  the  Company  2,  185. 

Grahame,  James  A.,  and  Deed  Poll 
controversy,  1,  222;  Chief  Com- 
missioner of  Hudson's  Bay  Co., 


5431  wintering  partners  on,  2,  3, 
4.  8,  35.  36;  and  S.,  36. 

Grand  Fall,  described,  1,  no. 

Grand  Trunk  Railway,  and  con- 
struction of  transcontinental  line, 

1,  172, 459;  hostility  to  Canadian 
Pacific,  2,  no,  113  n. 

Grant,  and  contest  over  S.'s  pa- 
pers, 1,  331  n. 

Grant  of  Elchies,  Baron,  1,  6. 

Grant,  Cuthbert,  fur-trader,  1,  1 8. 

Grant,  G.  M.,  on  Hudson's  Bay 
Co.  and  land-holding,  1,  525;  on 
Dawson  route,  2,  53. 

Grant,  James,  clerk  at  North- West 
River  post,  1,  1 06;  marriage  and 
divorce,  120. 

Grant,  Lewis,  and  S.,  1,  57;  and 
Rebellion  of  1838,  69. 

Grant,  Sir  Ludovick,  and  clan 
lands,  1|  6. 

Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  and  Chicora  in- 
cident, 1,  385-387- 

Grant,  William,  career,  1,  20,  24, 

25- 

Grant  clan,  1,  6. 

Granville,  Earl,  and  transfer  of 
North- West  Territory,  1,  245; 
and  Riel  Rebellion,  337,  343  n., 
381,  382;  and  Canadian  fisher- 
ies, 414. 

Great  Northern  Railway.  See  St. 
Paul  and  Pacific. 

Greenway,  Thomas,  and  Mani- 
toba schools  question,  2,  156, 
161,  166,  168. 

Grenfell,  Wilfred  T.,  on  life  in  Lab- 
rador, 1,  121 ;  on  economic  waste 
there,  229;  recollections  of  S.,  2, 
477-482,  484. 

Grey,  Earl,  appointment  to  Gov- 
ernor-Generalship, 2,  399,  400; 
Landsdowne  on,  401;  and  anti- 
Japanese  riots  at  Vancouver,  41 1 ; 
project  for  Dominions  House, 
445—447. 

Gnffair,  Charles  P.,  and  Deed  Poll 
controversy,  1,  222. 

Griffith,  William  L.,  at  S.'s  funeral, 

2,  463;  as  S.'s  secretary,  494. 
Gzowski,  C.  S.,  and  Pacific  Railway 

scandal,  1,  464. 

Hallock,  Charles,  on  trade  at  Hud- 
son's Bay  Co.  post,  1,  106;  on 
S.'s  farm  at  North-West  River, 


Index 


125,  126;  on  a  Labrador  home, 

138- 

Hamburg-American  Company  and 
emigration  to  Canada,  2,296-303. 

Hamburger  Nachrichten,  on  emi- 
gration to  Canada,  2,  294. 

Hamilton,  John,  and  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  1,  467. 

Hamilton,  Robert,  and  S.,  1,  96; 
on  Committee  of  1857,  149;  at 
opening  of  Manitoba  Legisla- 
ture, 403;  on  claim  of  wintering 
partners,  429;  on  O'Donohue's 
invasion,  448;  on  S.,  499,  2,  2, 
3;  to  McFarlane  on  Manitoba 
election,  1,  534;  on  steamer, 
council  of  officers,  S.  as  head  of 
fur-trade,  539;  on  Governorship 
for  S.,  lands,  2,  7;  to  S.,  on  retir- 
ing, 10. 

Hamilton  Inlet.  See  Esquimaux 
Bay,  1,  97. 

Harcourt,  Sir  William  Vernon,  at 
S.'s  funeral,  2,  463. 

Hardisty,  George,  in  Hudson's  Bay 
Co.,  1,  145. 

Hardisty,  Henry,  1,  119;  in  Hud- 
son's Bay  Co.,  145;  to  S.  on  con- 
dition of  Plains  Indians  (1873), 
533;  search  for  cart  route,  2,  8. 

Hardisty,  Isabella,  1,  119;  first 
marriage,  120;  marries  S.  by 
consent,  120.  See  also  Strath- 
cona  (Lady). 

Hardisty,  Joseph,  in  Hudson's  Bay 
Co.,  1,  145. 

Hardisty,  Maria,  1,  119. 

Hardisty,  Richard,  Sr.,  chief  trad- 
er at  Esquimaux  Bay,  1,  119; 
and  death  of  Simpson,  154; 
death,  154,  203. 

Hardisty,  Richard,  Jr.,  in  Hudson's 
Bay  Co.,  1,  145;  with  S.  in  Red 
River  region,  307,  323,  324  n,, 
326,  328. 

Hardisty,  Mrs.  Richard  (Suther- 
land), 1,  119. 

Hardisty,  Thomas,  1,  119;  in  Hud- 
son's Bay  Co.,  145. 

Hardisty,  William  L.,  in  Hudson's 
Bay  Co.,  1,  145;  to  S.  on  Yukon 
trade,  532;  retires,  2,  18. 

Hargrave,  death,  1,  203. 

Harmsworth,  Alfred,  as  popular 
force,  2,  255;  party  for  visiting 
Colonial  Premiers,  259-264. 


Harper,  on  gold  in  British  Colum- 
bia, 2,  15. 

Haven,  Jens,  Moravian  missionary 
in  Labrador,  1,  132. 

Hay,  Henry,  of  Labrador,  1,  143. 

Hay,  John,  on  apostles  of  British 
Imperialism,  2,  255. 

Hay  River,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
post,  1,  532. 

Head,  Sir  Edmund,  Governor  of 
Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  182,  186; 
on  policy  of  reorganized  Com- 
pany, 184;  and  opening  of  North- 
West  Territory,  189;  and  offer 
of  American  syndicate,  223; 
death,  226. 

Henry,  Sir  Edward,  on  precautions 
for  visit  of  Prince  of  Wales  to 
Canada,  2,  416. 

Herschel,  Lord,  f and  Imperial  In- 
stitute, 2,  248;  American  Joint 
Conference,  322. 

Hesperia,  suggested  name  for 
North- West  Territory,  1,  174  ». 

Hill,  James  JM  first  meeting  with 
S.,  1,  368;  and  Riel  Rebellion, 
368;  steamers  on  Red  River,  2, 
45;  and  St.  Paul  and  Pacific  Ry., 
60,  61,  63  ».,  64;  to  S.,  on  rates 
to  Winnipeg,  67;  Farley's  suit 
against,  70-73;  Canadian  Pacific 
Syndicate,  98,  104. 

Hincks,  A.  S.,  and  Pacific  Railway 
scandal,  1,  464. 

Hind,  Henry  Y.,  on  salmon  trade 
of  Labrador,  1,  128;  report  on 
Red  River  region,  168. 

Hoar,  E.  R.,  on  arbitration,  1,  418. 

Hodgson,  James  S.,  Director  of 
Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  186. 

Holton,  L.  H.,  and  Riel,  1,  496  n. 

Hopkins,  E.  M.,  and  Simpson's 
book,  1,  74  n.',  and  investment 
of  savings  of  Company's  em- 
ployees, 216;  retires,  226. 

Hosmer,  C.  R.,  on  S.'s  carelessness 
of  health,  2,  489. 

Howard,  Arthur,  2,  148  n. 

Howard,  Donald  S.  P.,  2,  148. 

Howard,  Edith,  2,  148  n. 

Howard,  Frances  M.  P.,  2,  148  ». 

Howard,  Robert  H.  P.,  2,  148  n. 

Howard,  Robert  J.  B.,  marriage 
to  S.'s  daughter,  2,  148. 

Howe,  Joseph,  and  transfer  of 
North- West  Territory,  1,  235; 


513 


Index 


and  survey  of  Red  River  region, 
244;  mission  and  advice  to  Red 
River  region,  251-260,  280;  con- 
duct towards  McDougall,  260- 
264;  and  S.'s  appointment  as 
commissioner  to  Red  River,  273, 
303-307;  realizes  blunder,  274, 
275;  letter  from  McDougall, 
285;  on  McDougall's  illegal  proc- 
lamation, 289,  290;  to  McDou- 
gall on  S.'s  mission,  319;  S.'s 
reports  to,  340-^343,  348,  349, 
350;  on  S.'s  services  as  commis- 
sioner, 364,  365;  on  S.'s  report, 
370;  and  delegates  from  North- 
West,  377. 

Hudson's  Bay,  S.'s  interest  in  rail- 
way and  steamship  line,  2,  244- 
246. 

Hudson's  Bay  Company,  Simpson 
as  head,  1,  59-62,  67,  70,  154; 
policy  towards  employees,  63- 
65,  164;  King's  Posts,  75-77; 
packing  of  furs,  79-81;  change 
from  beaver  to  money  as  stand- 
ard of  value,  81,  113,  114;  sup- 
ply ship  and  Indian  trade,  106; 
Nascopie  post  and  route,  109- 
ii i ;  post  at  Ungava  Bay,  in, 
165;  relations  with  Labrador 
planters,  140;  Committee  of 
1857,  148-152;  unconscientious- 
ness,  155;  and  Newfoundland 
taxes,  167;  Canadian  demand 
for  control  and  opening  of  North- 
West,  168-172;  reorganization 
and  negotiations  for  transfer 
of  North-West  (1862),  172-179, 
186-189,  217,  234-236;  Direc- 
tors of  reorganized  Company, 
1 86;  investment  of  savings  of 
employees,  215,  216;  American 
offer  for  territory,  223;  terms  of 
transfer  to  Canada,  236,  245- 
247;  effect  of  Dominion  Act  on 
political  power,  238  n.,  240  n.; 
and  trade  with  Minnesota,  240; 
popular  Canadian  misconcep- 
tion of  operatives  and  personnel, 
270-273;  local  officials  and  Riel 
Rebellion,  274,  277-283,  284  n., 
286,  292,  295,  296,  298,  299  n., 
300,  301,  308,  339  n.,  346,  348  n., 
349,  356  n.,  373,  397~399,  436; 
trouble  over  transfer,  299,  366, 
367,  380-383;  transfer  accom- 


plished, 383;  coalescence  with 
North- West  Company,  500; 
Northcote  and  reorganization, 
505;  Alaskan  posts,  510-512; 
steamers  on  rivers,  512,  530,  531, 
536-539,  2,  6-8,  27,  34;  decline 
of  fur-trade,  1,  515,  517,  2,  13; 
proposed  rivals  in  fur-trade,  1, 
519,  520,  2,  187;  retrenchment 
in  fur-trade,  1,  523,  2,  2,  3,  14, 
181,  183,  195,  202,  203;  profits, 
land  policy,  1,  525,  526,  2,  33, 
198,  202,  503;  competition  from 
Alaska,  1,  526-532,  2,  11,  18, 
19,  22-24;  a"d  free-traders,  1, 
535,  536,  2,  24-27,  205;  problem 
of  servants,  1,  537;  proposed 
sale  of  reserved  lands  to  Canada, 
2,  7;  and  Indians,  9,  28,  188; 
grade  of  Inspecting  Chief  Fac- 
tor, 9,  10;  price  of  furs  (1876), 
II ;  Victoria  as  fur-market,  26; 
in  extreme  North,  28;  change  in 
Directorate  (1883),  33~35;  de- 
terioration of  personnel,  180- 
182;  character  of  later  Chief 
Commissioners,  183,  184,  186; 
decline  of  salmon  industry,  184; 
ignorance  of  the  Board  on  fur- 
trade,  190;  history,  197  «.;  real 
death  with  death  of  S.,  210; 
present  activities  illustrated, 
21 1 ;  fur-tradecommissions  issued 
(1821-1905), 212.  See  c/soStrath- 
cona  (Hudson's  Bay  Co.),  Win- 
tering partners. 

Hughes,  Katherine,  on  Lestanc 
and  Riel  Rebellion,  1,  333  n. 

Hughes,  Samuel,  suggests  S.  for 
Premier,  2,  154;  and  South  Afri- 
can War,  334;  and  Strathcona's 
Horse,  339, 345 ;  breach  with  Hut- 
ton,  apology,  345;  on  Dundon- 
ald  in  Canada,  395,  398;  on  S.'s 
proposed  resignation,  431. 

Hunt  &  Henley,  operations  in  Lab- 
rador, 1,  130,  163,  164,  1 66;  sell 
out  to  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  167. 

Huntingdon,  Lucius  S.,  and  Pa- 
cific Railway  scandal,  1,  469. 

Hurlbatt,  Ethel,  on  S.  and  Aber- 
deen University  quater  -  cente- 
nary, 2,  408;  recollections  of  S., 
475-477. 

Hutton,  Edward,  and  Strathcona's 
Horse,  2,  339,  340,  343,  368; 


Index 


breach  with  Canadian  Ministry, 
344,349-352;  Hughes's  apology, 
345- 

Iddesleigh,  Lord.  See  Northcote. 

Immigration,  Canadian,  condi- 
tions (1815-40),  1,  47-51;  S.  on 
need,  2,  238,  241,  279,  314;  his 
activities,  239;  policy  of  Mac- 
donald  Ministry,  239,  240;  and 
railway  rates,  242,  304;  practical 
character  of  S.'s  addresses,  243; 
S.  and  non-British,  280,  305; 
Continental  prohibitions  and  re- 
strictions to  emigration,  281, 
287-293,  297,  300;  method  of 
propaganda  on  Continent,  281- 
287,  294-296;  and  South  Ameri- 
can propaganda,  282,  283  n.; 
propaganda  and  British  foreign 
relations,  293;  attitude  of  Ger- 
man trans-Atlantic  lines,  296- 
303;  Scandinavian,  303;  S.  and 
British,  305-309;  freak  plans  for 
encouraging,  309,  310;  North 
Atlantic  Trading  Co.,  310-313; 
amount  (1897-1912),  314  n.; 
denunciation,  423. 

Imperial  Institute,  decline,  S.  and 
restoration,  2,  246-248. 

Imperialism,  S.  on,  2,  222,  324,  374, 
376,  377;  S.'s  advocacy  of  pref- 
erential duties,  225-229;  S.  on 
development  of  Canada  and, 
235;  ^97  as  turning  point,  250, 
276-278;  Canada's  preferential 
tariff  law,  252,  275;  S.  and  colo- 
nial representation,  269,  375;  S. 
and  colonial  federation;  274, 
359736i;  reciprocity  in  prefer- 
ential duties,  336-338;  S.  on 
South  African  War  and,  363; 
Chamberlain's  tariff  reform,  387- 
390;  S.  on  services  of  Chamber- 
lain, 391-393;  and  attempted 
American-Canadian  reciprocity, 
429,  430;  S.  and  naval  assistance, 
435. 

Indians,  Montagnais,  1,  85,  89,  90; 
Nascopie,  102-105,  224I  an.d 
transfer  of  North-West  Terri- 
tory, 247,  263;  and  Kiel  Rebel- 
lion, 368,  374;  Chipewyans,  532; 
Buffalo  Lake,  532;  Crees  and 
Blackfeet,  533;  Circees,  534; 
treatment  by  Hudson's  Bay  Co., 


2,    g,    28,    1 88;    destitution   of 
Northern  (1881),  27. 
Inkster,  Colin,  on  S.  at  Fort  Garry, 

1.  343  ». 

Inspecting  Chief  Factor,  grade,  2, 

9,  10. 
International,  on  Red  River,  1,  240, 

2,  45- . 

International  Financial  Society, 
and  reorganization  of  Hudson's 
Bay  Co.,  1,  179,  180,  187. 

Irish  Republican  Union,  1,  230. 

Isbister,  Alexander  K.,  before  Com- 
mittee of  1857,  1,  151;  and  S., 
196,  219;  career,  196;  on  fund  for 
wintering  partners,  502. 

Isle  Jeremie,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
post,  1,  78. 

Japanese,  Vancouver  riots,  2,  411; 
suggested  policy  for  Canada  to- 
wards, 412,  413. 

Jarvis,  S.  P.,  at  Winnipeg,  1,  403. 

Joint  High  Commission,  impor- 
tance of  Alabama  claims,  1,  409, 
410,  418;  fisheries  question  as 
excuse,  410,  411;  Canadian  in- 
terests and  discord  among  Brit- 
ish commissioners,  411-418;  free 
navigation  of  Alaskan  rivers, 
417;  arbitration,  418,  419. 

Jordan,  William,  and  S.,  1,  86." 

Jubilee  of  1897,  and  Imperialism, 
2,  250,  276;  Harmsworth's  party 
for  Colonial  Premiers,  259-264; 
Dominion  Day  Banquet,  266, 
267. 

Kane,  Paul,  on  pettiness  of  Sir 
George  Simpson,  1,  155,  156;  as 
artist,  156. 

Keith,  James,  1,  31. 

Kelvin,  Lord,  jubilee,  2,  230. 

Kempt,  Sir  James,  on  Canadian 
immigrants,  1,  50. 

Kennedy,  John  S.,  and  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  1,  465;  and  St. 
Paul  and  Pacific  Railway,  2,  64, 
65;  and  Farley  suit,  70-73;  Ca- 
nadian Pacific  Syndicate,  98. 

Kernaghan,  William,  letter  from 
S.,  1,  146;  before  Committee  of 
1857,  151- 

Kimberley,  Lord,  and  Canadian 
fisheries,  1,  413;  and  amnesty  for 
Riel  Rebellion,  450. 


515 


Index 


King,  E.  H.,  meets  S.,  1,  213;  S.'s 
commercial  connection,  225. 

King's  Posts,  character,  1,  75-77. 

Kipling,  Rudyard,  on  Canada,  2, 
252,  254;  and  Imperialism,  255; 
S.  and  "Recessional,"  278. 

Kitchener,  Earl  of,  and  Strath- 
cona's  Horse,  2,  367. 

Kittson,  Norman  W.,  agent  at  St. 
Paul,  1,  240;  and  S.,  311,  316; 
on  Riel  Rebellion,  325  n.;  Red 
River  steamers,  2,  46;  and  St. 
Paul  and  Pacific  Railway,  61, 
63  n.,  64, 71 ;  Farley's  suit  against, 

70-73- 
Klondyke  gold  discovery,  S.  and,  2, 

248. 
Kohn,   Reinach  &  Co.,  Canadian 

Pacific  Syndicate,  2,  98. 
Kruger,  Paul,  S.  on,  2,  329. 

Laberge,  free-trader,  1,  527. 

Labouchere,  Henry,  aphorism  on 
S.,  2,  234  n.;  on  Imperial  Insti- 
tute, 247. 

Labrador,  S.  and  salmon  trade,  1, 
127-131;  S.  and  resources,  136, 
137,  214,  228,  229;  economic 
waste,  229;  decline  in  salmon 
industry,  2,  184,  185;  conditions 
(1900),  207. 

Labrador,  1,  214,  232. 

Labrador  tea-plant,  1,  136. 

Labradorite,  S.'s  interest,  1,  136. 

Lachine,  situation,  1,  58  n. 

Lacombe,  Pere  Albert,  missionary, 

1,  88;  to  Laurier  on  Manitoba 
schools  question,  2,  173. 

Lady   Head,    Hudson's    Bay   Co. 

boat,  1,  541. 
Laidlaw,  G.,  plan  for  railway,  1, 

463- 
Laird,  David,  to  S.  on  Indians,  2, 

27. 
Lake,  Col.,  and  Canadian  militia, 

2,  35i- 

Lake  St.  John,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
post,  1,  76  n. 

Lake  of  Two  Mountains,  Hudson's 
Bay  Co.  post,  1,  72. 

Lalonde,  Paul,  free-trader,  1,  536. 

Lampson,  Sir  Curtis  M.,  Director 
of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  186, 
194;  S.  on,  195;  onS.,  224;  and 
transfer  of  North-West  Terri- 
tory, 246;  from  S.  on  Red  River 


mission,  368;  threatens  to  resign, 
407;  letter  from  S.,  412;  and  free 
fur-trade,  2,  25. 

Lands  of  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
under  transfer  of  North-West  to 
Canada,  1,  236;  wintering  part- 
ners and  share  in,  430,  507,  515, 
520,  2,  12,  21,  29,  30,  38,  44,  183, 
20 1,  202;  management  and  prof- 
its, 1,  525,  526,  2,  7,  33,  198, 
503;  S.  in  charge,  1,  543;  pro- 
posed sale  to  Canada,  2,  7 ;  S.  re- 
tires from  Commissionership,  20. 

Langevin,  Sir  Hector  L.,  and  am- 
nesty for  Riel  Rebellion,  1,  451- 
453 >  456;  and  Pacific  Railway 
scandal,  467. 

Langevin,  Louis  P.  A.,  and  Mani- 
toba schools  question,  2,  161, 179. 

Lansdpwne,  Marquis  of,  and  Ca- 
nadian troops,  2,  338 ;  and  Strath- 
cona's  Horse,  338,  369;  on  Earl 
Grey,  401;  at  S.'s  funeral,  463. 

La  Pierre's  House,  Hudson's  Bay 
Co.  post,  1,  530,  531. 

Lapp  House,  Hudson's  Bay  Co 
post,  1,  511. 

Laprairie,  in  Rebellion  of  1838,  1, 
69. 

La  Rocque,  Felix,  fur-trader,  1,  43. 

Lascelles,  Sir  Frank,  and  Cana- 
dian immigration  propaganda, 
2,  294,  298. 

Laurie,  H.  J.,  and  S.'s  statement, 
If  397,  398. 

Laurier,  Sir  Wilfrid,  on  Pacific  Rail- 
way scandal,  1,  474  n.;  and  Man- 
itoba schools  question,  2,  166, 
173-175,  .177-179;  and  S.  as  High 
Commissioner,  23 1 ;  letters  from 
S.,  247,  257,  283,  293,  311,  326, 

327,  336,  342,  358,  383,  387,  424; 
Ministry,  251;  plans  for  recep- 
tion in  England  (1897),  259-261 ; 
at  Harmsworth's  reception,  263, 
264;  G.  C.  M.G.,  264;  correspond- 
ence with  S.  on  fast  Atlantic 
service,  270-274;  and  bill  on  mar- 
riage to  deceased  wife's  sister ,316, 
317;  American  Joint  Conference, 
322;  on  Minto's  appointment, 
324;  Redistribution  Bill,  329- 
331;  and  resolution  on  Imperial 
supremacy  in  South  Africa,  331- 
333;  and  Canadian  troops  for 
South  Africa,  338;  breach  with 


516 


Index 


Hutton,  344,  349~352:  and  spe- 
cial battalion  for  Rhodesia,  352 ; 
and  Strathcona's  Horse,  368; 
opposes  official  colonial  ban- 
quet to  Chamberlain,  390;  Dun- 
donald  controversy,  395~398; 
and  appointment  of  Earl  Grey, 
399,  400;  and  All- Red  Route, 
403,  404,  406,  407;  and  status  of 
Agents-General  in  London,  414, 
416;  and  S.'s  proposal  to  resign 
(1910),  425,  426;  fall  of  Minis- 
try, 431;  tribute  to  S.,  456. 

Laval  University,  S.  on,  2,  152. 

Lavallee,  Mayor,  tribute  to  S.,  2, 
461. 

Lawson,  J.  H.,  on  neglect  of  old 
officers,  new  Commissioner,  2, 
182. 

Leblanc,  Pere,  on  terms  Canada 
and  Quebec,  1,  85. 

Leith,  James,  and  John  Stuart,  1, 
28,  31,  33;  missionary  fund,  33  n. 

Lemay,  Joseph,  and  Riel  Rebellion, 
1,  312  n. 

Lepine,  Ambroise  D.,  in  Riel  Rebel- 
lion, 1,  267,  347, 361 ;  and  O'Don- 
ohue's  invasion,  447;  bribe  to 
leave  country,  455-45$,  474,  478; 
indicted  for  murder  of  Scott,  495; 
commuted  sentence,  496. 

Lestanc,  Pere,  and  contest  over  S.'s 
papers,  1,  332,  333,  338;  conduct 
in  Riel  Rebellion,  333  «.;  and 
execution  of  Scott,  356,  358. 

Lichfield.Lord,  and  wintering  part- 
ners, 2,  190;  at  S.'s  funeral,  463. 

Lindsay,  James,  and  Riel  Rebel- 
lion, 1,  381,  382. 

Liquor,  in  fur-trade,  1,  527,  528. 

Lisgar,  Lord.  See  Young  (John). 

Lloyd-George,  David,  on  All-Red 
Route,  2,  407. 

Lockhart,  J.,  on  claim  of  wintering 
partners,  1,  429,  506;  on  new 
Deed  Poll,  521. 

Lodge,  Henry,  of  Labrador,  1,  139. 

London  Chronicle,  on  S.'s  appoint- 
ment as  High  Commissioner,  2, 

215- 
London    Times,    on    Strathcona's 

Horse,  2,  341. 

Lome,  Marquess  of.   See  Argyll. 
Lowe,  Robert,  and  S.,  1,  195. 
Loyalty,  S.  on  Canadian,  2,  224, 

237,  275,  277,  315. 


Lubbe,  free-trader,  2,  25. 

Luxton,  VV.  F.,  letter  from  S.,  2,  85. 

Lyall,  George,  and  reorganization 
of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  177,  186. 

Lyttelton,  Alfred  and  Dundonald 
controversy,  2,  397,  398;  rela- 
tions with  S.,  400. 

Lytton,  Lord,  on  S.'s  activity,  2, 
485  n. 

MacArthur,  D.,  and  claim  of  win- 
tering partners,  1,  423;  on  Deed 
Poll  and  proposed  new  fur-trade 
company,  515,  518,  519;  on  free- 
traders, 535. 

MacAulay,  promotion,  1,  537. 

Macbeth,  connection  with  Forres, 
1,  I. 

McBride,  Sir  Richard,  and  status 
of  Agent-General  in  London,  2, 
413-416. 

McCarthy,  Dal  ton,  and  Manitoba 
schools  question,  2,  170. 

McClintock,  F.  Leopold,  in  Lab- 
rador, and  S.,  1,  157-161. 

McDermott,  Henry,  and  election 
during  Riel  Rebellion,  1,  356  n.; 
and  Canadian  Pacific  Railway, 
472. 

McDonald,  Archibald,  from  S.  on 
economy,  2,  2;  at  Carlton,  5. 

Macdonald,  James,  and  Pacific 
Railway  scandal,  1,  475. 

Macdonald,  Sir  John  A.,  and  nego- 
tiations for  North-West  Terri- 
tory, 1,  186,  235,  243;  Ministry, 
224;  and  surveys  in  the  Terri- 
tory, 242,  243;  and  transfer  of 
the  Territory,  246;  letter  from 
Howe  on  Riel  Rebellion  (1869), 
256;  regards  S.  as  Simpson's 
successor,  270;  belated  advice  to 
McDougall,  275,  276,  282  »., 
293  «.;  on  McDougall's  illegal 
proclamation,  288,  289;  confer- 
ence with  S.  on  Rebellion,  297- 
301 ;  appointment  and  instruc- 
tions to  S.  as  commissioner,  303- 
306;  and  S.'s  request  for  Privy 
Councillorship,  312;  S.'s  reports 
to,  326;  and  Tache,  343  n. ;  antic- 
ipates S.'s  failure,  366  n.;  and 
delegates  from  North- West,  377, 
440;  illness  (1870),  378;  and 
Chicora  incident,  385;  on  fisher- 
ies question,  408;  in  Joint  High 


517 


Index 


Commission,  410-418;  on  future 
strength  and  loyalty  of  Canada, 
431 ;  on  danger  of  annexation  of 
western  territory  by  United 
States,  436;  on  Fenians  and  Riel 
Rebellion,  4.30^  440;  and  O'- 
Donohue's  invasion  and  Riel, 
447;  and  amnesty  for  Riel  Rebel- 
lion, 451-454;  and  bribe  to  Riel, 
456-458,  474,  478-482;  Pacific 
Railway  scandal,  fall  of  Ministry, 
467-478;  breach  with  S.,  473, 
476-478,  497,  2,  78,  81-83,  87, 
91,  92,  98;  opposes  lease  to  St. 
Paul  and  Pacific  Railway,  66, 
76-78,  81-83;  return  of  Ministry, 
policy  as  to  transcontinental 
Railway,  92-94;  negotiations  for 
private  construction,  94-98;  and 
construction  loans  to  Canadian 
Pacific,  105,  109;  reconciliation 
with  S.,  134;  death,  152;  on  im- 
migration, 239. 

McDonald,  K.,  to  S.,  on  competi- 
tion from  Alaska,  2,  II,  18,  22- 
24;  on  free-traders,  market  for 
furs,  25. 

Macdonald,  Sir  William,  tariff  let- 
ter from  George  Stephen,  1,  212. 

McDonell,  Sir  James,  and  Rebellion 
of  1838,  1,  69. 

McDougall,  James,  in  Yukon  trade, 
1,  510-512;  to  S.  on  competi- 
tion from  Alaska,  528;  death,  2, 
208. 

McDougall,  William,  and  Cana- 
dian claim  to  Red  River  region, 
1,  1 88;  and  negotiations  for  its 
transfer,  235,  236,  246;  and  sur- 
vey of  region,  243;  appointment 
to  North- West  Territory,  245  n., 
252;  character  and  frustrated 
hopes,  255,  268  n.;  Howe's 
conduct  toward,  257,  260-264; 
barred  out,  264,  267,  284;  Mac- 
tavish's  warning  and  advice, 
265-267;  and  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
officials,  274  n.,  278-283,  286, 
292;  Macdonald's  belated  ad- 
vice, 275,  276;  furniture  seized, 
283;  illegal  proclamation,  284- 
290,  292 ;  accuses  Canadian  Gov- 
ernment of  deserting  him,  290  n. ; 
attempt  to  confer  with  Riel,  290- 
292;  departs,  293;  on  false  re- 
ports, 312  n.;  meeting  with  S., 


317-320;  resigns,  379  n.;  Mac- 
tavish  on,  399. 

MacDowall,  D.  H.,  on  S.  and  win- 
tering partners,  2,  204. 

McEwen,  offer  for  Hudson's  Bay 
Co.  territory,  1,  223. 

MacFarlane,  C.  F.,  letter  from 
Adams,  2,  206. 

MacFarlane,  Roderick,  and  claim 
of  wintering  partners,  1,  419- 
424,  2,  12,  28;  acknowledgment 
to,  1,  499  n. ;  on  competition  in 
Alaska,  526,  527;  letters  from  R. 
Hamilton,  534,  539,  2,  2;  to  S. 
on  need  of  steamers  and  servants, 
li  537:  establishes  Fort  Smith, 
539;  letters  fromS.,  2,  17,21,34; 
memorial  to  the  Company,  36- 
38;  letter  from  Butler,  41;  from 
Bell,  194;  protest  on  treatment 
of  old  officers,  198-201;  medal, 
208. 

McGill,  James,  endowment  for 
McGill  University,  1,  56. 

McGill,  Peter,  Mayor  of  Montreal, 
1,  70. 

McGill  University,  endowment,  1, 
56;  S.'s  inauguration  as  Chancel- 
lor, 2, 148;  problem  of  law  school, 
150;  trouble  over  South  African 
War,  358,  359;  students  and  re- 
ception of  S.,  372,  373;  tribute 
to  S.,  459,  460;  S.'s  benefactions, 

499-.  . 

MacGillivray,  Simon,  1,  27,  30. 

MacGillivray,  William,  1,  27  n. 

McGreevy,  Thomas,  and  Pacific 
Railway  scandal,  1,  464. 

McGrigor,  Sir  James,  1,  32. 

Machray,  Robert,  and  Riel  Rebel- 
lion, 1,  307,  326,  354;  at  opening 
of  Manitoba  Legislature,  403. 

Mclnnes,  D.,  plan  for  railway,  1, 

463- 

Mclntyre,  Duncan,  Canadian  Pa- 
cific Syndicate,  2,  98. 

McKenny,  Henry,  on  Howe  in  Red 
River  region,  1,  257,  258. 

McKenzie,  promotion,  1,  537. 

Mackenzie,  Alexander,  and  seating 
of  S.,  1, 404;  and  Pacific  Railway 
scandal,  475;  and  Hudson's  Bay 
Co.  lands,  2,  7;  and  transconti- 
nental railway,  49;  and  route 
through  Manitoba,  74,  75;  fall  of 
Government,  80. 


518 


Index 


Mackenzie,  Ferdinand,  to  S.  on  de- 
terioration of  the  Company,  2, 
181. 

Mackenzie,  Peter,  letters  from  S., 
2,  42,  205,  206;  S.'s  rescue,  206. 

McKenzie,  Roderick,  and  Deed 
Poll  controversy,  1,  222;  and 
claim  of  wintering  partners,  422 ; 
and  fund  to  recompense  winter- 
ing partners,  502-504;  on  retir- 
ing, 516;  on  dividends,  542;  to 
S.  on  sorrows  of  wintering  part- 
ners, 2,  20,  182 ;  on  passing  of  old 
officials,  Manitoba,  31. 

Mackenzie,  Samuel,  and  Deed  Poll 
controversy,  1,  222. 

Mackenzie  River  District,  value, 
1»  53i;  policy  toward  (1873), 
531,  532. 

McKinney,  and  annexation,  1,  441. 

McLaughlin,  John,  proclamation  to 
the  Indians,  1,  152,  153;  charac- 
ter, 153. 

McLean,  John,  and  Riel  Rebellion, 

1.  352.  354.  355.  356  n. 
McLean,  John,  on  Simpson,  1,  61; 

on  service  in  Hudson's  Bay  Co., 

[^  65;  on  Esquimaux,  108;  estab- 
lishes Nascopie  post,  109. 

McLeod,  Roderick,  1,  28,  31. 

McLoughlin,  John,  birthplace,  1, 
52  n. 

McMullen,  George  W.,  and  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railway,  1,  461, 
468  n.;  Allan's  letters  to,  463: 
blackmail,  469,  470. 

McMurray,  William,  on  Commit- 
tee of  1857,  1,  150-152;  and 
Deed  Poll  controversy,  222;  and 
O'Donohue's  invasion,  448;  to 
S.  on  free-traders,  536;  on  gov- 
ernment of  North-West  Terri- 
tories, promotion,  2,  5,  9;  abili- 
ties, 9  n.;  letter  from  S.,  20. 

Macnab,  The,  of  Upper  Ottawa,  1, 
72. 

MacPherson,  David  L.,  and  Pacific 
Railway  scandal,  1,  459, 463,464. 

MacPherson,  Joseph,  clerk  at 
North- West  River  post,  1,  106; 
adventure,  112. 

McQuestin,  on  Yukon,  2,  19. 

Mactavish,  Miss,  letters  from  S., 

2,  128,  136. 

Mactavish,  D.  C.,  to  S.  on  decay 
of  fur-trade,  2,  180. 


McTavish,  Donald,  S.  on,  as  offi- 
cer, 2,  208. 

Mactavish,  Dugald,  letter  from  S., 
1»  X53.'  °n  death  of  Simpson,  154; 
at  Washington,  226. 

McTavish,  G.  S.,  and  claim  of  win- 
tering partners,  1,  429;  letter 
from  brother,  281. 

McTavish,  J.  H.,  on  Riel  Rebellion, 
1»  293  n.;  in  Manitoba  Assembly, 
403- 

McTavish,  William,  and  Deed  Poll 
negotiations,  1,  197,  221;  suit 
against  the  Company,  226;  Gov- 
ernor, 237;  and  Bishop  Tache, 
238;  and  trouble  in  Red  River 
region,  253;  and  annexation  to 
United  States,  253,  441;  and 
Howe's  visit,  258,  261;  warns 
McDougall,  265-267;  jealous  of 
S.,  269;  treatment  by  Canadian 
officials  and  attitude  toward  Riel 
Rebellion,  274,  278-283,  284  n., 
286,  292,  296,  298,  299  n.,  308, 
309;  on  seizure  of  Fort  Garry, 
277,  296;  on  McDougall's  con- 
duct, 278;  on  Riel's  plans,  279; 
proclamation,  280;  on  S.  at  Fort 
Garry,  339  n.,  340  n.;  Riel's  re- 
pression, 346,  348  n.,  350;  S.  to 
succeed,  369,  379;  and  Gover- 
norship of  Manitoba,  379  n. ; 
death,  391 ;  and  claim  of  winter- 
ing partners,  422. 

Mail,  S.  on  preferential  rate  for 
newspapers  to  Canada,  2,  400, 
401. 

Mair,  Charles,  intrigue  in  Red  River 
region,  1,  257,  263. 

Malmaros,  Oscar,  intrigue  in  Red 
River  region,  1,  241. 

Manitoba,  S.  on  future  of  region 
(1857),  1,  146,  147,  153,  168, 
169;  parliamentary  investigation 
of  control  by  Hudson's  Bay  Co., 
148-152;  provincial  act,  378; 
appointment  of  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor,  379;  origin  of  name,  400; 
first  Legislature,  401-404;  S. 
on  resources  and  development 
(1871),  405,  406;  S.'s  speech  on 
(1872),  488-493;  settlement,  2, 
31;  Red  River  steamers,  45,  46; 
S.  on  railway  needs  (1876),  50- 
55;  route  of  Canadian  Pacific 
through,  56-59,  73-76.  See  also 


519 


Index 


Manitoba  schools  question, 
North- West  Territory,  Kiel  Re- 
bellion, St.  Paul  and  Pacific. 

Manitoba,  Red  River  steamer,  2, 46. 

Manitoba  schools  question,  Cath- 
olic demand  for  restoration  of 
separate  supported  schools,  2, 
155;  failure  of  mediation  of  Privy 
Council,  155,  156;  Remedial  Bill 
in  Parliament,  problem,  156- 
158,  165,  166;  public  opinion, 
158;  S.'s  private  mission  of  con- 
ciliation, 158-165,  170,  489; 
position  of  provincial  Ministry, 
161,  162,  1 66;  S.  on  precedent 
of  1871,  162-164;  attitude  of 
Laurier,  166,  173-175;  S.'s 
speech,  166-168;  ministerial 
commission  to  Winnipeg,  173; 
commission's  suggestions  for 
settlement,  175-177;  arrange- 
ment, 177;  S.  and  negotiations  in 
England,  178;  S.  on  Archbishop 
Langevin's  action,  179. 

Manitoban,  on  S.,  1,  484,  485. 

Marchessault,  S.,  Canadian  rebel,  1, 

54- 
Markham,  Sir  Clements,  on  S.  at 

North- West  River,  1,  158. 
Martin,  Chester,  on  Howe  in  Red 

River   region,   1,    255;   on   S.'s 

amnesty  report,  496. 
Martin,    Joseph,    and    Manitoba 

schools  question,  2,  171. 
Masson,  Madame,  and  Riel,  1,  241. 
Masson,  Luc  H.,  Canadian  rebel,  1, 

54- 

Master  Cutlers'  Company  of  Shef- 
field, annual  feast,  2,  236. 

Matheson,  and  reorganization  of 
Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  178. 

Matheson,  Alexander,  to  S.  on  fur- 
trade,  1,  535;  on  steamer  on  Sas- 
katchewan, 2,  6;  on  Directors, 
16. 

Matheson,  Duncan,  on  S.  and  the 
kyak,  1,  115  ».;  and  destitution 
at  Ungava,  2,  196. 

Matthews,  and  Manitoba  schools 
question,  2,  179. 

Maynard,  and  reorganization  of 
Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  178. 

Mazocchi,  Vincent,  musical  adver- 
tisement, 1,  53  n. 

Meinertzhagen,  Daniel,  Director 
of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  186. 


Melville  Lake,  described,   1,  99- 

101,  115. 
Meredith,  H.  V.,  tribute  to  S.,  2, 

461. 
Metabetshuan,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 

post,  1,  76  n. 
Miall,  E.,  and  Canadian  Pacific,  2, 

109. 

Miles,  Edward,  and  S.,  1,  75. 
Miles,  George,  on  S.'s  accounts,  1, 

80. 

Military  training,  S.'s  fund,  2,  420. 
Militia,  politics  in  Canadian,  2, 350, 

395,  399  »• 
Milnes,  Robert,  Canadian  rebel,  1, 

54- 
Mingan,  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  post,  1, 

77,  78,  90,  91,  96;  attached  to 

Labrador  district,  223. 
Ministry,  first  of  Dominion,  1,  224; 

fall    of    Macdonald's,    472-478; 

fall  of  Mackenzie's,  2,  80;  fall  of 

Tupper's,  231;  fall  of  Laurier's, 

431. 

Minneapolis  Tribune,  on  annexa- 
tion, 1,  437-439-. 

Minnesota,  resolution  for  annexa- 
tion of  western  Canada  (1868), 
1,  436-439- 

Minnesota,  Red  River  steamer,  2, 
46. 

Minnesota  and  Pacific  Railway, 
land  grant,  2,  47. 

Minto,  Earl  of,  Governor-General, 
2»  323,  324;  S.'s  reception  at 
Montreal,  328;  and  visit  of  Duke 
of  Cornwall,  384. 

Missionaries,  S.  and  Catholic,  1, 
88,  223;  and  Moravian,  108,  109, 
132,  133- 

Mistassini,  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  post, 
1,  76  n, 

Moberly,  promotion,  1,  537. 

Moisie,  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  post,  1, 
76  n. 

Molson,  William,  Grand  Trunk 
Railway,  1,  460  n. 

Monck,  Viscount,  and  opening  of 
North- West  Territory,  1,  187;  on 
Fenian  raid,  206. 

Montagnais  Indians,  traits  and 
customs,  1,  85,  89,  oo. 

Monterey,  carries  Strathcona's 
Horse,  2,  347,  348. 

Montreal,  in  1838, 1, 54-57;  and  Re- 
bellion of  1838,  69;  S.on  (1866), 


520 


204;  protest  on  tariff  reduction 
(1866),  209-211;  S.'s  first  com- 
mercial interests,  214,  225;  S. 
and  commercial  improvements, 
2,  142;  Royal  Victoria  Hospital, 
146;  Royal  Victoria  College, 
1.47,  I5L  333.  377-380;  recep- 
tion of  S.  (1900),  372-374.  See 
also  McGill  University. 

Montreal  Gazette,  on  commercial 
effect  of  Atlantic  cable,  1,  213  ». 

Montreal  Star,  on  S.'s  peerage,  2, 
266. 

Moravian,  1,  227. 

Moravians,  missionaries  and  Es- 
quimaux, 1,  108;  S.'s  interest, 
109,  132,  133. 

Morayshire,  aspect,  1,  2. 

Morris,  Alexander,  campaign 
against  S.  (1878),  2,  79. 

Morton  Rose  &  Co.,  Canadian 
Pacific  Syndicate,  2,  98. 

Mosquitoes,  plague  in  Labrador, 
1,  112. 

Mount  Royal,  S.  at  launching,  2, 

324- 

Mount  Stephen,  Lord.  See  Ste- 
phen (George). 

Mousseau,  Joseph  A.,  and  Riel,  1, 
496  n. 

Mulgrave,  Lord,  tour  with  George 
Simpson,  1,  74. 

Munro,  Alexander,  to  S.  on  passing 
of  old  officers,  2,  194. 

Murdock,  Sir  Clinton,  and  Riel 
Rebellion,  1,  382;  and  amnesty, 

453- 
Muskapis,  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  post, 

1,  76  «. 
Musquarro,    Hudson's    Bay    Co. 

post,  1,  77,  96. 

Napier,  Gen.,  and  Fenian  raid,  1, 
206. 

Nascopie  Indians,  described,  1, 
102-105;  and  Catholic  mission- 
aries, 224. 

Nascopie  post  of  Hudson's  Bay 
Co.,  1,  109,  224;  trail  to,  from 
North- West  River,  109-111. 

Nathan,  Henry,  and  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  1,  468. 

Nathan,  N.,  and  Pacific  Railway 
scandal,  1,  464. 

Natural  science,  S.'s  knowledge, 
1,  122,  160. 


Navy,  S.  and  Imperial  assistance, 

2,  435- 
Necobau,  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  post, 

1,  76  n. 
Nelson,  Wolfred,  Canadian  rebel, 

1.  53.  54- 

New  Nation,  on  annexation,  1,  433. 
New  York  Sun,  on  annexation,  1, 

434- 
Newcastle,  Duke  of,  and  Hudson's 

Bay  Co.'s  control  of  North-West, 

1,  171-176,  178,  187,  188. 
Newfoundland,  taxation  in  Labra- 
dor, 1,  167. 
Newspapers,   preferential   rate  on 

British,  to  Canada,  2,  400,  401. 
Nicoll,  Sir  William  R.,  on  S.  and 

Aberdeen  University,  2,  408. 
Norfolk,  Duke  of,  and  Manitoba 

schools  question,  2,  178,  179. 
Norman,  Nathan,  and  S.,  1,  137, 

227;  and  Ungava  Bay,  165. 
North-Atlantic  Trading  Company, 

and  emigration   to   Canada,   2, 

310-313. 
North-German    Lloyd    Company, 

and   emigration   to    Canada,  2, 

296-303- 

North-West  Company,  Simpson  s 
policy  after  coalition,  1,  61 ;  pur- 
pose and  terms  of  coalition,  500. 
See  also  Wintering  partners. 

North-West  Mounted  Police,  origin, 

1.  374  «• 

North-West  River,  Hudson's  Bay 
Co.  post,  S.  transferred  to,  1,  94; 
situation,  100,  101;  life  at  post, 
111-114;  surroundings,  114;  S.'s 
farm  and  garden,  124-127,  147, 
158-160;  Catholic  missionaries, 
223. 

North-West  Territory  and  Ru- 
pert's Land,  Canadian  demand 
for  control  and  opening,  1,  168- 
172;  population  (1869),  263; 
attitude  of  French,  237-239; 
under  Canadian  Government,  2, 
5;  S.  and  Governorship,  7;  S.  on 
importance  and  future,  221,  222. 
See  also  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  Man- 
itoba Red  River  region,  Riel  Re- 
bellion, Wintering  partners. 

Northcliffe,  Lord.  See  Harms- 
worth. 

Northcote,  Sir  Stafford  H.  (Lord 
Iddesleigh),  letter  from  Lamp- 


521 


Index 


son  on  S.,  1,  224;  heads  Hudson's 
Bay  Co.,  226;  and  Riel  Rebellion, 
293;  abandoned  visit  to  Red 
River  region,  367;  from  S.  on 
Governorship  of  Manitoba,  379; 
and  transfer  of  North- West  Ter- 
ritory, 380;  letters  from  S.,  385, 
394,  465;  Joint  High  Commis- 
sion, and  Macdonald,  411-418; 
and  arbitration,  418;  and  claim 
of  wintering  partners,  420,  425, 
426,  428,  505;  on  danger  of  an- 
nexation, 435, 436;  and  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  472  n. 

Northcote,  on  Saskatchewan  River, 
1»  536;  2,  6-8 

Norway.     See  Scandinavia. 

Nourse,  William,  Chief  Trader  of 
Labrador  posts,  1,  96,  101;  re- 
lieved, 119. 

Oakeley,  Hilda,  from  S.  on  Victoria 
College,  2,  378,  379. 

Obe,  Joseph,  1,  96. 

O'Brien,  Edward,  letter  from  Jo- 
seph Howe,  1,  260. 

Ocean  Nymph,  1,  191  ».,  202. 

O'Donnell,  William,  on  S.  at  Fort 
Garry,  1,  342  n.,  343  n.,  486. 

O'Dpnohue,  W.  B.,  intrigue  in  Red 
River  region,  1,  241,  439;  and  S. 
at  Fort  Garry,  331  n.,  333,  343  n.; 
flight,  393,  396;  character,  442; 
attempted  invasion  of  Manitoba 
(1871),  444-449- 

Ogden,  Peter,  1,  33;  career,  33  n. 

Ogden,  W.  B.,  and  Canadian  Pa- 
cific Railway,  1,  461. 

Oleskow,  Prof.,  as  Canadian  emi- 
gration agent,  2,  295. 

O'Lone,  Robert,  on  Howe  in  Red 
River  region,  1,  259. 

O'Neill,  John,  career,  1,  443;  at- 
tempted invasion  of  Manitoba, 

444,  449- 

Oregon  County,  claim  of  wintering 
partners  of  Hudson's  Bay  Co., 

If  427- 
Osier,   Sir  Edmund,   and  site  for 

High   Commissioner's  office,  2, 

444. 
Osier,  Sir  William,  at  S.'s  funeral, 

2,  463- 

Otelne,  Nascopie  chief,  1,  143. 
"Our  Lady  of  the  Snows,"  S.  and 

term,  2,  254. 


Oxford  University,  D.C.L.  for  S., 
2,  386. 

Pacific  Cable  Conference,  2,  221. 

Pacific  Railway  scandal.  See  Cana- 
dian Pacific. 

Papinachois,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
post,  1,  76  n. 

Papineau,  Louis,  fugitive,  1,  53. 

Paquet,  Pere,  missionary,  1,  88. 

Parent,   Etienne,    letter  to  S.,  1, 

295  «• 

Parliament,  British,  S.  and  colonial 
representation,  2,  269. 

Parsons,  S.  K.,  to  S.  on  attitude  of 
Company's  Board,  2,  190. 

Paytabais,  Nascopie  chief,  1,  104, 
105  n. 

Peace,  Sir  Walter,  and  Chamber- 
lain, 2,  390. 

Peacocke,  George,  on  Fenian  raid, 
1,  206. 

Peel's  River,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
post,  1,  530,  531. 

Peerage  for  S.,  question  of  title,  2, 
264-266;  descent  to  daughter, 
354-358. 

Pembina,  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  post, 
McDougall  at,  1,  264  268,  284, 
293;  S.  at,  321-323;  O'Dono- 
hue's  invasion,  444,  448;  plan  for 
railway,  463. 

Pension,  of  wintering  partners,  2, 
182,  187,  193;  more  liberal 
scheme,  198. 

Peters,  Klaas,  Canadian  emigra- 
tion agent,  2,  303. 

Peterson,  and  plans  for  fast  Atlantic 
service  to  Canada,  2,  270-274. 

Peterson,  William,  on  S.  and  con- 
struction of  Canadian  Pacific,  2, 
131  n.;  and  trouble  in  McGill 
University,  358,  359;  on  S.'s  pre- 
paration for  later  career,  468. 

Pifcher,  Thomas  D.,  in  South  Afri- 
can War,  2,  342. 

"Planters"  of  Labrador,  1,  140. 

Pope,  John  H.,  and  Canadian  Pa- 
cific, 2,  105,  117. 

Pope,  Sir  Joseph,  on  Governor  for 
Manitoba,  1,  379  n. 

Porcupine  River,  navigation  in 
Treaty  of  Washington,  1,  417. 

Posadowsky  Welmer,  Count  von, 
and  emigration  to  Canada,  2, 
293- 


522 


Index 


Potter,  Richard,  and  reorganiza- 
tion of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1, 179, 
186. 

Price,  William,  career,  1,  53  n. 

Privy  Councillor,  S.'s  appointment, 
2,  215. 

Provencher,  J.  A.  N.,  and  Kiel  Re- 
bellion, 1,  267. 

Provincialism,  S.  on  decrease,  2, 
376. 

Prowse,  Robert  H.,  and  S.,  1,  138, 
191. 

Quebec,  origin  of  name,  1,  85; 
Civil  Code,  2,  150. 

Que-hee-le  River,  proposed  Hud- 
son's Bay  Co.  post,  1,  529, 
530. 

Rae,  John,  on  S.'s  promotion,  1, 
162;  return  to  England,  164. 

Railways,  early  plans  for  Canadian 
transcontinental,  1,  172,  175; 
S.'s  interest  in  rolling-stock  com- 
pany, 225;  S.  on  need  of  Mani- 
toba (1871),  406.  See  also  Cana- 
dian Pacific,  St.  Paul  and  Pacific. 

Ramparts,  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  post, 
1,  511;  free-traders  at,  2,  22,  24. 

Rampini,  Charles,  on  Forres,  1,  4. 

Rankin,  Colin,  letters  from  S.,  1, 
232,  301,  304  n.,  428,  2,  15,  19, 
207,  209;  from  Hamilton,  1,  499. 

Reciprocity,  influence  of  treaty  of 
1854  in  Labrador,  1,  128;  and 
in  Canada,  407;  S.  on,  2, 
146;  S.  on  attempted  American 
(1911),  429,  430. 

Red  Leggins,  Alaskan  chief,  1,  511. 

Red  River,  first  steamers,  2,  45,  46. 

Red  River  region.  See  Hudson's 
Bay  Co.,  Manitoba,  North-West 
Territory,  Riel  Rebellion. 

Redistribution  Bill,  S.  on,  of  Lau- 
rier  Ministry,  2,  329-331. 

Red  path,  Peter,  S.'s  commercial 
connection,  1,  225. 

Reid,  J.  M.,  on  Riel  Rebellion  and 
annexation,  1,  440. 

Reid,  Whitelaw,  on  Canadian  High 
Commissionership,  2,  220. 

Renaud,  Pere,  missionary,  1,  88. 

Rendezvous,  Alaska,  fur-traders  at, 

If  529- 
Resolution,  Fort,  to  be  abandoned, 

1,  532. 


Reuter's  Agency,  and  Canadian 
news,  2,  257. 

Revelstoke,  Lord,  and  Canadian 
Pacific,  2,  1 20. 

Revelstoke,  B.C.,  origin  of  name, 
2,  121. 

Revillon  Freres,  in  fur-trade,  2, 
205. 

Rhodes,  Cecil,  and  Canadian  bat- 
talion for  Rhodesia,  2,  352. 

Richards,  Arnold  N.,  and  Riel 
Rebellion,  1,  318. 

Riel,  Louis,  early  career  and  char- 
acter, 1,  241,  242;  and  O'Dono- 
hue's  invasion  (1871),  445,  446; 
bribe  to  leave  the  country,  455- 
458,  474,  478-482;  return,  elec- 
tion to  Parliament,  expulsion, 
480,  482,  493,  494,  496;  indicted 
for  murder  of  Scott,  495;  out- 
lawry, 495,  496;  Rebellion  of,  in 
1885,  executed,  497.  See  also 
Riel  Rebellion. 

Riel  Rebellion,  origin,  1,  189,  237- 
264,  380^-383;  parties  in  Red 
River  region  on  transfer  of  terri- 
tory, 233,  241,  245  n.,  371-373; 
character  of  Riel,  241,  242;  trou- 
ble over  surveys,  land  grabbing, 
242-245,  247-250,  372;  attitude 
of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  officers, 
250.  253.  261,  274,  275,  277,  281, 
284  n.,  296,  298,  299  «.,  300,  301, 
308,  373,  397-399.  436;  Joseph 
Howe's  mission  and  advice,  251- 
260,  280;  McDougall  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  252;  Howe's  conduct 
toward  McDougall,  260-264; 
McDougall  barred  out,  264,  267, 
284;  Mactavish's  advice  to  Mc- 
Dougall, 265-267;  influence  of 
McDougall's  character,  268  ».; 
Macdonald's  belated  advice  to 
McDougall,  plan  to  placate  Riel, 
275,  276;  Fort  Garry  seized,  276, 
277,  296;  Mactavish  on  McDou- 
gall's  conduct,  278;  organization 
and  plan  of  rebels,  279;  Mac- 
tavish's proclamation,  280;  Mc- 
Dougall's illegal  proclamation, 
284-290,  292;  arrest  of  Canadian 
partisans,  287;  S.  directed  to 
offer  assistance  to  Canadian 
Government,  293-295;  McDou- 
gall's effort  for  conference  with 
Riel,  290-292;  McDougall  quits, 


523 


Index 


293;  S.  supports  Canadian  claim, 
297;  his  conference  with  Minis- 
try, 297-303;  absence  of  Tache, 
300;  S.'s  appointment  as  com- 
missioner, instructions,  301-306; 
Queen's  message,  306,  337;  meet- 
ing of  S.  and  McDougall,  317- 
320;  reception  of  S.  as  Company 
official,  323-325.  340,  34i;  Har- 
disty's  activity  for  S.,  326,  328; 
S.  advocates  military  prepara- 
tion, 326;  annexation  to  United 
States  feared,  327,  432-442;  dis- 
closure of  S.'s  commissionership, 
contest  for  his  papers,  329-333, 
341 ;  public  meeting,  reading  of 
S.'s  documents,  333-338,  342; 
flag.  336;  Convention,  338,  339, 
343-350,  2,  163;  Kiel's  repression 
of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  officers,  1, 
339.  346,  348  n.,  349,  350,  356  n.\ 
execution  of  Scott,  342  ».,  356- 
363,  376,  396;  delegation  to  Ot- 
tawa, 345,  349,  376,  440;  bill  of 
rights,  345,  347~349;  Boulton's 
rising,  35O-354,  364,  37 1,  44o; 
election  for  provisional  govern- 
ment, 350,  354-356;  Kiel's  plea 
and  promise  to  S.,  353,  354;  de- 
parture of  S.,  363;  results  of  mis- 
sion, 364,  365,  371,  374-376;  mil- 
itary preparation,  366,  369,  381- 
383;  Indians  and,  368,  374;  S.'s 
report,  369-374;  amnesty  ques- 
tion, 377,  448  «.,  449-458,  495- 
497;  Manitoba  Act,  378;  passage 
of  military  supplies  through 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal,  383-388; 
military  expedition,  flight  of  Kiel, 
388,  389.  391-393;  S.  as  tempo- 
rary Governor,  disorders,  389- 
391,  393-396;  American  subsidy, 
435;  Fenian  interest,  438,  439; 
O'Donohue's  attempted  inva- 
sion (1871),  442-449;  bribe  to 
Kiel  to  leave  country,  455-458, 
474,  478-482. 

Rigolet,  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  post, 
situation,  1,  99;  trade,  106;  Es- 
quimaux, 107;  conditions(i89i), 
2,  184,  185. 

Riots,  election,  at  Winnipeg,  1,  493. 

Ripple,  1,  213. 

Ritchot,  J.  N.,  in  Kiel  Rebellion, 
1,  265;  and  S.'s  papers,  331; 
delegate  to  Ottawa,  349,  350, 


376,  497  n.;  and  O'Donohue's 
invasion,  445. 

Roberts,  and  Fenian  raid,  1,  206. 

Roberts,  and  reorganization  of 
Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  178. 

Roberts,  Earl,  and  Canadian 
troops,  2,  352,  370,  371;  and 
Strathcona's  Horse,  369;  at  un- 
veiling of  statue  to  Wolfe,  428; 
S.  on,  429. 

Robertson,  Leith,  death,  1,  203. 

Robinson,  H.  N.,  intrigue  in  Red 
River  region,  1,  241;  on  execu- 
tion of  Scott,  363;  and  annexa- 
tion, 441. 

Robitaille,  and  amnesty  for  Riel 
Rebellion,  1,  451,  454. 

Rochester,  John,  attack  on  S.,  1, 
498. 

Rogers,  Sir  Frederic,  on  S.'s  mis- 
sion to  Fort  Garry,  1,  366. 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  missions 
of  Lower  St.  Lawrence,  1,  88; 
missions  in  Labrador,  131,  157, 
223.  See  also  Manitoba  schools 
question. 

Rose,  John,  and  transfer  of  North- 
West  Territory,  1,  246,  382,  383; 
letter  from  Macdonald,  288. 

Rosebery,  Earl  of,  and  Imperial- 
ism, 2,  227. 

Ross,  on  Cuthbert  Grant,  1,  18  n. 

Ross,  B.  R.,  in  Hudson's  Bay  Co., 

1,  145- 
Ross,  Sir  George,  on  S.  and  Pacific 

Railway  scandal,  1,  477;  tribute 

to  S.,  2,   457;  on  "Strathcona 

period,"  280  n. 
Ross,  J.  J.,  and  Canadian  Pacific 

Railway,  1,  468. 
Ross,  James,  and  Riel  Rebellion, 

1.  355- 

Ross,  Roderick,  on  gold  in  British 
Columbia,  2,  15;  on  end  of  the 
Company,  186. 

Roy,  Pere,  missionary,  1,  88. 

Royal,  Joseph,  Speaker  of  Mani- 
toba Assembly,  1,  403. 

Royal  Society  of  Arts,  medal  to  S., 

2,  434- 

Royal  Victoria  College,  S.'s  endow- 
ment, 2,  147,  233,  499;  S.  on 
purpose,  opening,  377-380. 

Royal  Victoria  Hospital,  2, 146, 147. 

Rupert's  Land.  See  North-West 
Territory. 


524 


Index 


Russell    of    Killowen,    Lord,    and 

Manitoba  schools  question,  2, 179. 
Russell,   Sir  Charles,    Director  of 

Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  2,  33. 
Russell,  John,  Earl,  and  Alabama 

claims,  1,  204. 
Russia,  restrictions  on  emigration, 

2,  281,  288-291. 

Sadler,  Bill,  his  "leg  box,"  1,  141. 

Saguenay,  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  post, 
1,  76  n. 

St.  Paul,  S.'s  interest,  1,  310. 

St.  Paul  and  Pacific  Railroad,  S.'s 
first  journey  over,  1,  314,  315; 
S.  on  prospects  (1879),  2,  20; 
origin,  47;  first  construction,  47; 
bankruptcy,  48;  S.  on  need  of 
line  between  Winnipeg  and 
Pembina  (1876),  51,  54;  plan  of 
S.  and  J.  J.  Hill  to  get  control, 
60;  interest  of  George  Stephen, 
61,  62,  69;  option  on  bonds, 
63;  reorganization,  63-65;  con- 
struction to  Canadian  border, 
65;  lease  of  Winnipeg- Pembina 
line,  65-69;  Farley's  attempted 
blackmail,  70-73;  S.  on  question 
of  his  connection,  76-78;  charge 
of  discouraging  Manitoban  im- 
migration, 87-90;  influence  on 
Canadian  Pacific,  94,  98  n. 

St.  Paul,  Minneapolis,  and  Mani- 
toba Railway.  See  St.  Paul  and 
Pacific. 

Salaberry,  C.  M.  de,  sent  to  Red 
River  region,  1,  302,  304,  323 
n.;  conduct  there  during  Riel 
Rebellion,  327,  328  n.,  330,  332, 
334,  340  n.,  348,  370,  371. 

Salisbury,  Marquis  of,  and  Impe- 
rialism, 2,  227;  on  Canadian  im- 
migration propaganda,  293. 

Salmon,  S.'s  development  of  Lab- 
rador trade,  1,  127-131,  166;  de- 
cline in  profit,  2,  184,  185. 

Samluk,  1,  144. 

San  Francisco,  land  owned  by  Hud- 
son's Bay  Co.,  1,  178. 

Saskatchewan  River,  steamer  on, 
1.  536,  538-  539,  2,  6-8. 

Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal,  passage  of 
supplies  for  expedition  against 
Riel,  1,  383-388. 

Scandinavia,  Canadian  emigration 
propaganda,  2,  303. 


Schreiber,  Collingwood,  and  Cana- 
dian Pacific,  2,  103,  106,  109. 

Schroeder,  John  H.  W.,  Director 
of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1,  186. 

Schultz,  John  C.,  intrigue  in  Red 
River  region,  1,  241,  245  n.,  248, 
256-258,  263,  264;  arrested  by 
Riel,  287,  290  n.;  and  Hudson's 
Bay  Co.,  350  n.;  Riel's  enmity, 
352;  and  S.'s  statement  on  in- 
criminating papers,  397,  398; 
election  to  Parliament,  493; 
arrest  for  perjury,  535. 

Scott,  Alfred  H.,  delegate  to  Otta- 
wa, 1,  349,  350,  376,  497  n. 

Scott,  Hugh,  and  execution  of 
brother,  1,  376. 

Scott,  Thomas,  execution,  1,  357- 
363;  excitement  over  execution, 
376;  disposition  of  body,  396; 
execution  and  amnesty,  450; 
indictment  of  murderers,  480, 

495- 
Scott,  Thomas,  campaign  against 

S.  (1880),  2,  86,  87. 
Scott,  Thomas  A.,  and  Canadian 

Pacific  Railway,  1,  468  n. 
Scott,  W.   D.,  on  North- Atlantic 

Trading  Company,  2,  313  «. 
Scott,  W.  D.  B.,  anecdote  of  S.,  1, 

91  n.;  service  under  S.,  214. 
Selkirk,  on  Red  River,  2,  46. 
Semple,  Robert,  death,  1,  389. 
Seven  Islands,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 

post,  1,  76  n.,  77;  attached  to 

Labrador  district,  223. 
Seward,  William  H.,  and  Alabama 

claims,  1,  204. 
Seymour,     Lord     William,      and 

Strathcona's  Horse,  2,  369. 
Shaughnessy,  Sir  Thomas,  on  S.'s 

hospitality,  2,  484. 
Sheddon,  John,  and   Pacific   Rail- 
way scandal,  1,  464. 
Sherbrooke,  Lord.   See  Lowe. 
Siddons,  Mrs.,  anecdote  of  Macbeth 

at  Edinburgh,  1,  13  n. 
Sieveright,  on  Simpson,  1,  63  ». 
Sifton,     Clifford,     and     Manitoba 

schools  question,  2,  165;  letters 

from  S.,  295,  298. 
Silver   Heights,  S.'s   residence,  2, 

83  n.;  branch  line  to,  124,  125. 
Simpson,    Sir   George,    and    John 

Stuart,    1,    29;    character,    29, 
?o,  155,  156;  S.'s  letter  of  intro- 


525 


Index 


duction,  41;  importance,  59; 
policy  as  head  of  Hudson's  Bay 
Co.,  59-62,  67,  75,  92-94.  154- 
170;  real  office,  59  n.;  Napoleonic 
cult,  62;  and  S.,  72;  married 
life,  72;  knighthood,  world  tour, 
74;  book,  74  n. ;  and  post  at 
Ungava  Bay,  1 1 1,  166;  and  Cath- 
olic missionaries,  131;  on  agri- 
cultural possibilities  of  Mani- 
toba region,  testimony  before 
Committee  of  1857,  147-151, 
168,  169;  death,  154,  157. 

Simpson,  Thomas,  Sir  George 
Simpson  on,  1,  151. 

Simpson,  Wemyss  M.,  and  S.  as 
M.P.,  1,  404. 

Simpson,  Fort,  conditions  (1880- 
87),  2,  22,  25-27. 

Sinati,  Yukon  chief,  2,  18. 

Sir  Donald,  Mount,  significance  of 
name,  2,  132. 

Skead,  James,  and  Canadian  Pa- 
cific Railway,  1,  467. 

Skelton,  O.  D.,  on  Canada's  pref- 
erential tariff  law,  2,  252;  on 
immigration,  314  n. 

Skey,  John,  on  immigration  to 
Canada,  1,  47. 

Skinner,  Sir  Thomas,  at  S.'s  fu- 
neral, 2,  463. 

Smith,  Alexander,  character  and 
ancestry,  1,  5;  marriage,  5,  8; 
children,  8;  death,  23. 

Smith,  Barbara  (Stuart),  marriage, 
ancestry,  1,  5-8;  children,  8; 
character,  10;  death,  23;  letters 
from  S.,  36,  40;  and  return  of 
S.,  192,  193. 

Smith,  Charles  M.,  and  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  1,  463. 

Smith,  Donald  A.  See  Strathcona. 

Smith,  Sir  Frank,  and  Canadian 
Pacific,  2,  120. 

Smith,  George,  S.'s  ancestor,  1,  5. 

Smith,  George  A.,  at  S.'s  funeral, 
2,  463. 

Smith,  Jane,  1,  23. 

Smith,  John  S.,  1,  8;  education, 
12;  doctor  in  East  India  Com- 
pany's service,  22. 

Smith,  Marcus,  on  railway  route 
through  Manitoba,  2,  57. 

Smith,  Margaret,  1,  8;  character, 
14,  15;  death,  23,  86. 

Smith,  Margaret  C.  See  Strathcona. 


Smith,  Marianne,  death,  1,  23. 

Smith,  W.  G.,  letter  from  Mac- 
tavish,  1,  278;  resigns  from  Hud- 
son's Bay  Co.,  407. 

Smith,  Fort,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
post,  1,  539. 

Snow,  John  A., survey  in  Red  River 
region,  1,  244. 

Society,  British  attitude  toward 
colonials,  2,  250  n.,  264. 

Society  of  St.  Raphael,  and  emi- 
gration to  Canada,  2,  298. 

South  Africa,  S.  and  federation,  2, 
322. 

South  African  War,  S.  and  ap- 
proach, 2,  329;  question  of  Cana- 
dian resolution  of  support,  331- 
3331  S.'s  attitude  on  Canadian 
participation,  334;  first  Cana- 
dian contingent,  335,  336;  second 
Canadian  contingent,  question  of 
command,  338;  Canadian  troops 
and  surrender  of  Cronje,  352, 
370;  question  of  Canadian  bat- 
talion for  Rhodesia,  352,  353; 
S.  on  Imperial  forces,  362-364;  S. 
and  refusal  of  Canadians  to  ex- 
tend service,  370,  371 ;  return  of 
Canadian  troops,  380;  conduct  of 
Canadians,  385.  See  also  Strath- 
cona's  Horse. 

Spanish- American  War,  S.  on,  2, 
326. 

Spear,  and  Riel  Rebellion,  1,  439. 

Spence,  Thomas,  on  election  dur- 
ing Riel  Rebellion,  1,  356  n. 

Spruce  Bud,  1,  163. 

Stanley  of  Preston,  Lord,  Governor- 
General,  2,  153. 

Stead,  William  T.,  on  S.,  2,  230  n. 

Steamers,  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  river 
boats,  1,  512,  530,  531,  536-539, 
2,  6-8,  27,  34;  on  Red  River,  45, 
46;  S.  and  plans  for  fast  trans- 
Atlantic,  to  Canada,  270-274, 
328,  380,  385,  386,  402-407. 

Steele,  S.  B.,  Strathcona's  Horse, 
2,  346-349,  366-369. 

Stephen,  Elspeth  (Smith),  1,  208. 

Stephen,  George  (Lord  Mount 
Stephen),  first  meeting  with  S., 
1,  207 ;  early  career,  208 ;  defence 
of  low  tariff,  21 1,  212;  plan  for 
railway  from  Pembina,  463;  and 
St.  Paul  and  Pacific  Railway,  2, 
61-64,  69;  syndicate  for  con- 


526 


Index 


structing  Canadian  Pacific,  97, 
98 ;  and  financial  problems  of  con- 
struction, 105,  119,  120,  124  n.; 
baronetcy,  128;  credit  for  con- 
struction, 131;  and  reconcili- 
ation of  S.  and  Macdonald,  134; 
and  S.,  137;  Royal  Victoria  Hos- 
pital, 146,  147. 

Stephen,  William,  and  George 
Stephen,  1,  207,  208. 

Stephen,  Mount,  significance  of 
name,  2,  132. 

Stewart,  Alexander,  letters  from 
J.  Stuart  introducing  S.,  1,  27, 
41-43;  and  S.,  57. 

Stewart,  James,  and  Strathcona's 
Horse,  2,  340. 

Stewart,  James  G.,  and  Deed  Poll 
controversy,  1,  222. 

Stikine  River,  navigation  in  Treaty 
of  Washington,  1,  417. 

Strathcona  and  Mount  Royal, 
Donald  A.  Smith,  Baron,  Early 
years  and  Hudson's  Bay  Co. :  an- 
cestry, parents,  1,  5-8,  10;  birth, 
names,  8 ;  on  Scottish  emigration, 
8;  early  home,  8,  9;  and  para- 
phrases, II,  2,  451 ;  education,  1, 
12-14;  and  sister  Margaret,  I4iI5; 
early  interest  in  fur-trade,  15-18; 
question  of  career,  law  studies, 
18-22,  34;  at  London,  35-40; 
departure  for  Canada,  plans,  40- 
45,  52;  letters  of  introduction  to 
Simpson  and  Stewart,  41-43;  on 
Canada  in  1838,  45,  46;  at  Que- 
bec, 52,  53;  at  Montreal,  54; 
enters  service  of  the  Company, 
57,  65;  first  duties  at  Lachine, 
66-68;  on  Rebellion  of  1838,  68- 
70;  first  post  assignments,  learns 
French,  72;  and  Simpson,  his 
jealousy,  72,  73;  appointment  to 
Lower  St.  Lawrence,  74,  75; 
character  of  posts  there,  75-77; 
journey  thither,  77;  influence  of 
service  there,  78;  routine  and 
system,  78-81;  anecdote  of  first 
black-fox  purchase,  81-85;  on 
Montagnais,  85,  89,  90;  and 
Catholic  missionaries,  88,  131, 
157,  223;  on  wreck  of  Walker's 
fleet,  89;  on  Bersimits  River,  89; 
trouble  with  eyes,  unauthorized 
journey  to  Montreal,  92,  93; 
transfer  to  Labrador  as  punish- 


ment, 93,  94;  winter  journey 
thither,  94,  95;  new  district  de- 
scribed, 97-101 ;  and  Moravian 
missionaries,  109,  132,  133;  and 
Connolly,  109;  and  Ungava  post, 
in,  165;  life  at  Esquimaux  Bay, 
its  influence,  in,  112,  121-124, 
227 ;  on  mosquitoes,  1 12 ;  explora- 
tions and  adventures  around 
post,  114-118;  marriage  by  con- 
sent, 120;  and  Indians,  123,  188; 
farm  and  garden,  124-127,  147, 
158;  development  of  salmon 
trade,  127-131,  166;  and  Hunt 
and  Henley's  operations,  130, 
163,  164,  166,  167;  religious  serv- 
ice, 133;  and  medicine,  134-136; 
and  resources  of  Labrador,  136, 
137,  214,  228,  229;  correspond- 
ents and  Labrador  acquaint- 
ances, 137-140,  142-146;  and 
"planters,"  anecdotes,  140,  141; 
on  relative  value  of  meat  and  fish 
diet,  142;  on  future  of  Manitoba 
region  (1857),  146,  147,  153; 
on  death  of  Simpson,  157;  and 
Admiral  McClintock,  158-161; 
Chief  Factor,  162,  163;  and  New- 
foundland taxes,  167;  and  reor- 
ganization of  Company  and  Deed 
Poll  question  (1862),  179-186, 
189,  196,  222;  winter  voyage  to 
St.  John's  (1864),  illness,  190- 
192;  on  English  ignorance  of 
Canada,  192;  return  to  England 
(1864),  192;  at  old  home,  and 
mother,  192-194;  and  Board  of 
the  Company,  194;  on  Lampson, 
195;  at  Directors'  dinner,  unde- 
livered speech,  stage  fright,  200, 
201;  return  to  Labrador,  202; 
effect  of  trip  on  reputation,  202, 
224;  still  unknown  in  Canada, 
202;  on  Montreal  (1866),  204; 
on  Fenian  raid,  206;  first  meet- 
ings and  impressions  of  George 
Stephen,  207,  211;  on  completed 
Atlantic  Cable,  212;  first  Mon- 
treal commercial  interest,  213, 
214,  225;  and  investments  of 
brother  officers,  215,  543,  2,  31- 

J3;  and  Canadian  investments, 
,21 7  ;and  blockade-running,  2 17; 
on  American  offer  for  Hudson's 
Bay  Co.  territory,  223;  district 
enlarged,  223;  and  proclaiming 


527 


Index 


of  Dominion,  224;  General  Man- 
ager of  Eastern  Department, 
226,  232,  233,  237;  reputation  in 
Labrador,  227;  Mactavish's  jeal- 
ousy, 269;  considered  as  succes- 
sor to  Simpson's  power,  270;  fa- 
ble of  service  in  Rupert's  Land, 
272;  regarded  as  Mactavish's 
successor,  369;  and  Joint  High 
Commission,  407,  412-417;  and 
settlement  of  claim  of  wintering 
partners  (1871),  421-430,  502- 
504,  2,  44;  activity  and  prob- 
lems as  Chief  Commissioner,  1, 
499,  506;  and  improved  transpor- 
tation, 510,  538,  2,  34;  gives  up 
management  of  fur-trade,  1,  517, 
540,  541,  543;  and  new  appoint- 
ments, 519;  opposes  rival  fur- 
trade  company,  520;  continued 
interest  in  wintering  partners, 
525,  2,  2,  14,  15,  35,  36,  41,  42, 
180,  188,  189,  193,  197,  198,  203, 
206-209;  reorganization  of  fur- 
trade,  1,  526;  and  Mackenzie 
River  District,  531;  on  free-trad- 
ers, 536,  2,  205;  and  council  of 
officers  (1874),!,  539;  subordinate 
on,  540;  profits  of  fur-trade  under 
his  management  (1874),  540- 
542 ;  realizes  gloomy  future  of  fur- 
trade,  543, 2,  18;  on  need  of  econ- 
omy, 2,  3,  14;  wintering  part- 
ners on  management,  3;  on  price 
of  furs  (1876),  ll;  (1901),  205;  on 
concessions  to  wintering  part- 
ners (1879),  19,  21,  22;  retires 
from  Land  Commissionership, 
20;  upsets  Directorate,  becomes 
a  Director,  33-35 ;  and  Grahame, 
36;  becomes  Governor,  43;  and 
political  position,  79;  on  life  of 
wintering  partners,  197;  and  his- 
tory of  the  Company,  197  n. ;  on 
death  of  old  officers,  207. 

Kiel  Rebellion:  on  Riel,  1,  242; 
interest  in  Red  River  controver- 
sy, 268,  269;  offers  assistance 
of  Company,  293-295;  supports 
Canadian  claim,  297;  conference 
with  Ministers,  297-301 ;  appoint- 
ment as  commissioner,  instruc- 
tions, 301-308;  journey  to  Fort 
Garry,  307-317,  320-323;  request 
for  Privy  Councillorship,  311; 
warning  by  Fenians,  312,  313; 


meeting  with  McDougall,  317- 
320;  reception  as  Company  offi- 
cial by  Riel,  323-325;  refuses  to 
take  oath,  324,341;  virtual  con- 
finement, 325,  332,  347,  350;  ad- 
vocates military  preparations, 
326;  disclosure  of  commissioner- 
ship,  contest  for  papers,  329-333, 
341 ;  at  public  meeting,  333-338, 
342  ;and  execution  of  Scott,  342  »., 
356-362;  danger  and  conduct, 
342  n.,  343  n.,  371 ;  assurances  to 
Convention,  344;  and  delegation 
to  Ottawa,  345,  349;  and  bill  of 
rights,  345,  347~349;  and  elec- 
tion for  provisional  government, 
35°.  354-356;  and  Boulton  rising, 
351-353.  364.  37i;  departure, 
363;  results  of  mission,  364,  371, 
374-376;  intercepts  Northcote, 
367;  report,  369-374;  and  Gov- 
ernorship of  Manitoba,  379;  on 
Chicora  incident,  385;  in  military 
expedition,  388;  as  temporary 
Governor,  and  disorders,  389- 
39  *  •  3931  letter  from  Riel  on  his 
flight,  392,  393;  on  destruction 
of  Company's  papers,  397;  on 
danger  of  annexation  to  United 
States,  432-435;  and  amnesty, 
453.  454;  and  bribe  to  Riel  to 
leave  the  country,  454-458,  474, 
478-482. 

Politics:  initiation,  1,  209-212; 
election  to  Manitoba  Assembly, 
401 ;  to  Dominion  House  of  Com- 
mons, 401;  introduction  as  M.P., 
404;  and  Pacific  Railway  scandal, 
breach  with  Macdonald,  473- 
478,  497,  2,  78,  81-83,  87,  91,  92, 
98;  as  independent,  1,  483;  popu- 
larity with  constituents,  483- 
485;  local  measures,  485,  486;  as 
member  of  the  Assembly,  486; 
banquet  to  (1872),  speech  on 
North- West,  486-493;  reelection 
as  M.P.  (1872),  493,  494,  499; 
and  Governorship  of  North- 
West  Territories,  2,  7;  on  his 
clean  hands,  77,  78;  reelection 
(1878),  independence,  78-83; 
charge  of  technical  corruption, 
83-85;  defeated  at  second  elec- 
tion, 85-87,  492,  493;  reconcil- 
iation with  Macdonald,  134; 
election  to  Parliament  from  Mon- 


528 


Index 


treal  (1887),  135-146;  on  con- 
duct of  Lord  Randolph  Church- 
ill, 136;  on  protection,  138,  140- 
146;  on  technical  education,  138, 
139;  on  local  improvements,  142; 
on  French  Canadians,  144, 155  n., 
224,  254,  276;  on  customs  regula- 
tions, 145;  on  reciprocity,  146; 
on  Canadian  progress  under  Vic- 
toria, 146;  Royal  Victoria  Hospi- 
tal, 146,  147;  Royal  Victoria  Col- 
lege, 147,  233,  377-380;  inaugu- 
ration as  Chancellor  of  McGill, 
148-152;  on  death  of  Macdonald, 
152;  on  Aberdeen's  appointment, 
153;  and  suggested  Premiership 
(1896),  154;  and  Manitoba 
schools  question,  mission  and 
speech,  158-173,  489;  in  minis- 
terial commission  on  subject, 
173;  suggestions  for  settlement 
of  question,  175-177;  later  con- 
nection with  question  in  Eng- 
land, 178,  179;  on  salary  of  High 
Commissioner  and  judges,  218, 
219. 

Railways:  first  connection  with 
St.  Paul  and  Pacific,  1,  314,  315; 
first  meeting  with  J.  J.  Hill,  368; 
on  resources  and  development  of 
Manitoba  (1871),  405,  406;  on 
future  strength  of  Canada,  430; 
on  line  between  Pembina  and 
Winnipeg,  463,  2,  51,  54;  and 
Pacific  Railway  scandal,  1,  464, 
465,  467,  472-474.  476-478;  and 
construction  contract  then, 
468  n. ;  and  Red  River  steamers, 
2,  46;  on  need  of  transcontinental 
line  (1876),  50;  on  Dawson  route, 
52-54;  early  disbelief  in  private 
construction  of  transcontinental 
line,  55,  56;  and  route  through 
Manitoba,  56-59,  73-76;  control 
and  reorganization  of  St.  Paul 
and  Pacific,  60-65;  lease  of  Win- 
nipeg-Pembina  line,  65-69,  81- 
83;  on  Stephen's  connection  with 
St.  Paul  line,  69;  Farley's  suit 
against,  70-73;  on  question  of 
connection  with  St.  Paul  line, 
76-78 ;  Macdonald  advised  to  se- 
cure cooperation  of,  81-83;  and 
charge  of  discouraging  immigra- 
tion, 87-90;  and  Canadian  Pacific 
Syndicate,  97, 98 ;  on  spirit  of  the 


Syndicate,  102;  on  abuse  against 
Canadian  Pacific,  1 1 1 ;  on  burden 
of  construction,  115;  on  govern- 
mental loans,  115;  on  connection 
of  Baring  Bros.,  121;  on  last 
spike,  123;  and  branch  line  to  Sil- 
ver Heights,  124,  125;  on  effect 
on  Dominion,  125;  knighted, 
128,  130;  on  achievement  of  the 
line,  129-131 ;  credit  for  construc- 
tion, 131,  132,  135  n. 

High  Commissioner :  appoint- 
ment ,2,21 3-2 1 5 ;  public  reception 
of  appointment,  215,  216;  nature 
of  office,  2 1 6-22 1 ;  on  importance 
and  future  of  North- West,  221, 
222;  on  Imperialism,  222,  235, 
237,  324,  374,  376,  377:  on  prog- 
ress and  future  of  Canada,  223, 
253,  315.  382,  394,  4°2;  and  pref- 
erential duties,  225-229,  274, 
336-338;  at  Lord  Kelvin's  jubi- 
lee, on  Canada  and  Imperial  tele- 
graph, 230;  aphorisms  on,  230  n., 
234  n. ;  celebrations  of  Domin- 
ion Day,  231,  266,  267,  321,  401; 
under  Laurier's  Ministry,  231; 
G.  C.  M.  G.,  232;  as  lecturer  and 
interpreter  of  Canada,  234;  and 
immigration,  238,  241-243,  279- 
315;  Tupper's  tributes,  243,  244, 
323;  and  Hudson's  Bay  railway 
and  steamer  line,  244-246;  and 
Imperial  Institute,  246-248;  and 
Klondyke  gold  rush,  248 ;  on  Eng- 
lish society  and  colonials,  250  ».; 
on  Colonies  and  Jubilee  of  1897, 
251 ,  276;  Argyll  on,  253,  383; and 
term  "Our  Lady  of  the  Snows," 
254;  and  paucity  of  Canadian 
news  in  England,  256-258;  and 
reception  of  Laurier  (1897),  259- 
261,  263;  peerage,  question  of 
title,  264-266;  expected  retire- 
ment (1897),  267;  and  Governor- 
Generalship,  268,  354;  and  colo- 
nial representation,  269,  375;  and 
fast  Atlantic  service  to  Canada, 
270-274,  328,  380,  385,  386, 402, 
403,  405-407;  and  colonial  feder- 
ation, 274,  329,  359-361,  377; 
on  Kipling's  "Recessional,"  278; 
and  Canada's  "spectacular  de- 
velopment," "Strathcona  pe- 
riod ,"  2  80 ;  in  House  of  Lords,  and 
deceased  wife's  sister  bill,  316- 


529 


Index 


321;  on  American-British  Con- 
ference (1898),  322;  and  ap- 
pointment of  Minto,  323;  on 
Bristol  and  steam  transportation, 
325;  on  Spanish- American  War, 
326;  on  British  guaranty  of  Ca- 
nadian bonds,  327;  function  at 
Montreal  for  Governor-General, 
328;  and  approach  of  South  Afri- 
can War,  329;  on  Laurier's  Re- 
distribution Bill,  329-331;  and 
Canadian  resolution  to  support 
policy  in  South  Africa,  331-333; 
and  Canadian  participation  in 
the  war,  334~336,  338,  352,  353, 
370,  37 if  380;  Lord  Rector  of 
Aberdeen,  334,  335;  Strathcona's 
Horse,  339~344,  348,  349,  367- 
369,  373,.  375:  and  Mutton's 
quarrel  with  Canadian  Ministry, 
345 ,  349~352;  a°d  descent  of 
peerage  to  daughter,  354-358; 
and  trouble  at  McGill  over  the 
war,  358,  359;  and  freak  war 
correspondence,  361,  362;  on 
Imperial  forces,  362-364;  promo- 
tion of  knowledge  of  Canada  in 
British  schools,  365;  and  pro- 
posed royal  visit  to  Canada,  365, 
377,  384,  385;  reception  at  Mon- 
treal (1900),  372-374;  on  de- 
crease of  provincialism,  376;  and 
Pacific  Cable,  377,  380,  385;  and 
death  of  Victoria,  381;  on  Bou- 
rassa,  385;  Oxford  D.C.L.,  386; 
and  Chamberlain's  tariff  reform, 
387-390;  on  Chamberlain  as 
Colonial  Secretary,  391-393;  crit- 
icism of  support  of  Chamberlain, 
393;  attempts  to  retire,  394,  425, 
426, 431,  433,  441-443;  and  Dun- 
donald  controversy,  397,  398;  on 
preferential  rate  for  newspapers 
to  Canada,  400;  quater-cente- 
nary of  Aberdeen  University,  407- 
411;  and  anti-Japanese  riots  at 
Vancouver,  411-413;  and  dig- 
nity and  attributes  of  High  Com- 
missionership,  413-416;  tour  of 
Canada  (1909),  reception  at 
Winnipeg,  417-419;  accident, 
419;  testimonial  on  decade  of 
service,  419;  fund  for  military 
training  in  schools,  420;  on  Boy 
Scouts,  421;  honorary  military 
offices,  421;  resentment  of  de- 


tractions of  Canada,  422-424, 
437-439;  keeps  aloof  from  poli- 
tics, 424;  on  death  of  Edward 
VII,  426;  relations  with  him, 
427;  and  Queen  Alexandra,  427; 
at  centenary  of  Berlin  Univer- 
sity, 427,  428;  on  militarism  in 
Germany,  428;  at  unveiling  of 
statue  of  Wolfe,  428,  429;  and 
attempted  Canadian-American 
reciprocity,  429,  430;  relations 
with  Premier  Borden,  432-434; 
on  centenary  of  death  of  Brock, 
434;  presented  with  Albert 
Medal,  434;  and  Imperial  naval 
assistances,  435;  on  Canadian 
drain  of  British  funds,  435,  436; 
and  article  on  Borden  and  Union- 
ists, 439;  and  site  for  office  of 
High  Commissioner,  443-447;  ill- 
ness and  death,  451-453;  trib- 
utes, 453-462;  funeral,  462-466; 
coincidence  with  life  of  Canada, 
467. 

Traits :  generosity,  benefac- 
tions, 1,  13,  35,  36,  2,  454,  456, 
458,  460,  472,  479,  485,  498-500; 
on  service,  anecdote  of  burning 
of  house,  1,  19,  20,  91;  conserva- 
tism, 38;  appearance,  73,  87,  159; 
no  sportsman,  87;  superstition, 
86;  temperance,  115  n.,  2,  140, 
494 ;  reading,  1, 122, 163,2,471  n., 
485;  and  natural  science,  1, 
122,  160;  frugality,  124,  138,  2, 
500;  gentleman,  1,  228;  and  sub- 
ordinates, 228,  229,  2,  494,  497, 
498;  sarcasm,  79,  80  n.,  492; 
residences,  hospitality,  83  n., 
472,  483,  484,  486-491;  pre- 
cision of  language,  116,  470;  re- 
ligion, 155  n., 482,  483;  optimism, 
394;  industry,  440,  441,  479, 
500;  old  age,  447,  481,  485  n.; 
and  his  wife,  448-450,  471,  477, 
481;  goodness  of  heart,  461; 
preparation  for  later  career,  468 ; 
career  as  epitomizing  Imperial 
opportunities,  468 ;  sense  of  duty, 
469,  500;  integrity,  470;  motto 
for  coat  of  arms,  471 ;  as  illustrat- 
ing Aristotle's  "  high-minded- 
ness,"  473-475;  detachment  of 
manner,  475;  characteristic  atti- 
tudes, 476,  484;  voice,  talk,  476, 
484;  particularity,  477,  478,  495; 


530 


Index 


courtesy,  478,  484;  and  Dickens 
centenary,  485 ;  carelessness 
about  health,  489;  love  of  win- 
ter, 489;  club,  491;  as  public 
speaker,  491-493;  fondness  for 
stories,  493,  494;  information, 
memory,  495;  adhesion  to  old 
epistolary  methods,  495-498 ; 
fortune,  498 ;  lesson  of  character, 
500;  personal  dignity,  500;  serv- 
ice to  Canada,  500. 

Strathcona,  Isabella  (Hardisty), 
Lady,  marriages  by  consent,  1, 
120;  letter  to  mother,  144;  death, 
2,  448;  and  husband,  448,  449, 
471  «.,  477,  481;  character,  450. 

Strathcona,  (Margaret  C.  Smith- 
Howard),  Baroness,  birth,  1, 
120;  marriage,  children,  2,  148; 
descent  of  father's  barony  to, 
354-357- 

Strathcona's  Horse,  plan,  2,  339- 
344;  organization,  346,  347; 
voyage  to  Capetown,  S.'s  mes- 
sage to,  347-349;  services,  en- 
comiums, 366,  367;  in  England, 
367-369;  S.  on,  373,  375. 

"Strathcona  period"  of  Canadian 
history,  2,  280,  467. 

Strathspey,  Grant  clan,  1,  6;  emi- 
gration, 7,  8. 

Stuart,  Barbara.  See  Smith. 

Stuart,  Donald,  grandfather  of  S., 
1,  5;  children,  6  n. 

Stuart,    Donald,    1,    17,    19,    31, 

34  »• 

Stuart,  James,  as  law  student,  1,  9. 

Stuart,  John,  1,  6  ».;  explorations 
in  Canada,  15,  16;  character, 
16  n.,  26-32;  as  fur-trader,  17; 
and  career  of  S.,  18,  22,  35,  37, 
40;  travels  in  Europe,  33;  retire- 
ment, 34,  43;  letters  to  Simpson 
and  Stewart  introducing  S.,  41- 
43;  to  S.  on  service  in  the  Com- 
pany, 70. 

Stuart,  Margaret,  1,  6  n. 

Stuart,  Peter,  career,  1,  6  n.,  29  n. 

Stuart,  Robert,  1,  6  ».;  fur-trader, 
death,  17. 

Stuart,  William,  career,  1,  6  n. 

Stutsman,  Enos,  intrigue  in  Red 
River  region,  1,  241 ;  and  Riel 
Rebellion,  311  n.;  and  annexa- 
tion, 441,  442. 

Subsidy,  Canadian,  2,  405,  407  n. 


Supperuksoak,  Esquimaux  god,  1, 

131. 

Swanston,  death,  1,  203. 
Sweden.  See  Scandinavia. 
Sylvester,  free-trader,  2,  25-27. 

Tache,  Alexandre,  as  bishop  of  Red 
River  region,  1,  238,  245  «.;  and 
Riel,  241;  and  Howe's  visit,  258; 
and  Riel  Rebellion,  300,  334  n., 
343  n.,  356,  367,  368,  370  n.,  373; 
and  disorders  after  flight  of  Riel, 
393;  at  opening  of  Manitoba 
Legislature,  403;  and  promise  of 
amnesty,  450,  452,  453,  497  ».; 
and  tribe  to  Riel,  455,  479. 

Tadousac,  S.'s  appointment  to 
trading  post  at,  1,  74,  75;  char- 
acter of  post,  77. 

Tariff,  Montreal  protest  on  reduc- 
tion (1866),  1,  209-211;  George 
Stephen's  defence  of  low,  211, 
212;  S.  on  protection,  2,  138, 
140-146;  S.  on  customs  regula- 
tions, 145;  S.  on  reciprocity,  146; 
S.  on  preferential  duties,  225- 
229;  Canada's  preferential  law, 
252,  275;  transportation  in  bond, 
326;  S.  on  need  of  reciprocity  in 
preferential  duties,  336-338;  S. 
and  Chamberlain's  reform  move- 
ment, 387-390;  attempted  Ameri- 
can-Canadian reciprocity,  429, 
430- 

Taylor,  Thomas,  and  Deed  Poll 
controversy,  1,  222. 

Tea,  Labrador  plant,  1,  136. 

Telegraph,  Atlantic  Cable,  1,  157, 
158,  2ii,  212;  plans  for  trans- 
Canadian,  169,  172, 177,  186;  S. 
on  Canada  and  all- British,  2, 
230.  377.  38o,  385- 

Tellier,  J.  M.,  tribute  to  S.,  2, 
458. 

Temperance,  S.  on,  2,  140. 

Thibault,  Vicar-Gen.,  sent  to  Red 
River  region,  1,  302,  304,  323  n.; 
conduct  there  during  Riel  Rebel- 
lion, 327,  328  n.,  330,  332-334. 
340  n.,  348,  370,  371;  at  opening 
of  Manitoba  Legislature,  403. 

Thorn,  Adam,  and  Simpson's  book, 
1,  74  ». 

Thompson,  Sir  John,  death,  2,  153. 

Thompson,  William.     See  Kelvin. 

Thornton,  Sir  Edward,  and  Chicora 


531 


Index 


incident,  1,  384-387;  Joint  High 
Commission,  411-418. 

Tilley,  Sir  Samuel  L.,  and  negotia- 
tions for  transfer  of  North- West 
Territory,  1,  235. 

Torngak,  Esquimaux  god,  1,  131. 

Torrence,  Daniel,  plan  for  railway, 

1,  463- 

Trans-Atlantic  service,  S.  and  fast, 
for  Canada,  2,  270-274,  328,  380, 
385,  386,  402-407. 

Trutch,  Sir  Joseph,  banquet,  1,  405. 

Tupper,  Sir  Charles,  journey  to 
Fort  Garry  with  S.  (1869),  1,307- 
322;  letters  from  Macdonald  on 
Joint  High  Commission,  411, 
415,  417;  and  Canadian  Pacific, 
472  ».,  2,  92,  94,  109;  and  bribe 
to  Riel,  1,  479;  attacks  on  S., 
497,  2,  78;  on  S.  and  construc- 
tion of  Canadian  Pacific,  132;  re- 
turn to  rescue  Ministry,  153,  154, 
213;  and  Manitoba  schools  ques- 
tion, 165,  171;  as  High  Commis- 
sioner, 217,  243,  244;  Premier, 
fall  of  Ministry,  231;  tribute  to 
S.,323;  and  Strathcona's  Horse, 
353.  354.  358;  and  descent  of  S.'s 
peerage  to  daughter,  354~358; 
and  death  of  Lady  Strathcona, 
450. 

Turner,  J.  H.,  and  status  as  Agent- 
General,  2,  413-416. 

Ungava  Bay,  Hudson's  Bay  Co. 
post,  1,  in;  S.  and  reestablish- 
ment,  165;  conditions  (1888), 

2,  42;  destitution   (1893),    195, 
196;  conditions  (1900),  207. 

United  States,  S.  on  relations,  2, 
323.  See  also  Annexation. 

Vancouver,  anti-Japanese  riots,  2, 
411. 

Van  Home,  Sir  William  C.,  on  suc- 
cess of  reorganized  St.  Paul  and 
Pacific,  2,  64,  65;  and  construc- 
tion of  Canadian  Pacific,  104; 
on  origin  of  name  of  Craigellechie 
Station,  123  n.\  and  branch  line 
to  Silver  Heights,  124;  and  bond- 
ing privilege  question,  326;  in 
Canadian  election  (1911),  431. 

Verrall,  and  S.,  1,  96. 

Victoria,  Queen,  and  completion  of 
Canadian  Pacific,  2,  125,  127, 


128;  and  deceased  wife's  sister 
bill,  316;  S.  on  death  and  reign, 
381-383.  See  also  Jubilee  of 
1897. 

Victoria,  as  market  for  furs,  2, 
26. 

Victoria  Bridge,  S.  on,  1,  204. 

Viger,  B.,  Canadian  rebel,  1,  54. 

Vincent,  Sir  Howard,  toast  to  the 
Colonies,  2,  236. 

Wainwright,  Griffith,  at  Fort  Garry, 
1,  402. 

Walker,  Sir  Hovenden,  wreck  of 
fleet,  1,  89. 

Wallace,  James,  on  Howe  in  Red 
River  region,  1,  257,  258,  441. 

Walrus,  wrecked,  1,  534. 

Watkin,  Sir  Edward  W.,  and  reor- 
ganization of  Hudson's  Bay  Co., 

1,  172-180;    negotiations   with 
Canada,  186. 

Watson,  Robert,  and  S.,  1,  19,  194. 

Watt,  William  H.,  destruction  of 
papers,  1,  397;  and  O'Donohue's 
attempted  invasion,  444,  448. 

Weldon,  Richard  C.,  and  Manitoba 
schools  question,  2,  172. 

Welland  Canal,  attempt  to  de- 
stroy, 2,  362. 

West  Indies,  S.  and  federation,  2, 
274,  322;  direct  intercourse  with 
Canada,  329. 

Westminster  Abbey,  S.'s  funeral, 

2,  462-464. 

Wheaton,  Frank,  and  O'Donohue's 
attempt  to  invade  Manitoba,  1, 
/I /I /I,  448,  449. 

White,  W.  T.,  on  Canadian 
finances  (1913).  2,  437- 

Williams,  John,  of  Labrador,  1, 
138. 

Willis,  N.  P.,  on  Montreal,  1,  55. 

Wilson,  James,  on  S.,  1,  228. 

Wilson,  Joseph,  and  Deed  Poll 
controversy,  1,  222. 

Winnipeg,  in  1869,  1,  237;  election 
riot  (1872),  493;  and  route  of 
Canadian  Pacific,  2,  56-59,  73- 
76;  rail  connection  with  St.  Paul, 
65-69;  reception  of  S.  (1909), 417, 
418.  See  also  Riel  Rebellion. 

Winslow,  Lanier  &  Co.,  and  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railway,  1,  461. 

Winter,  Sir  James  Newfoundland 
tax  collector  in  Labrador,  1,  167. 


532 


Index 


Wintering  partners  of  Hudson  Bay 
Co.,  1, 154,  500;  importance,  170; 
and  reorganization  of  the  Com- 
pany, Deed  Poll,  179-186,  189, 
196-199,  203,  204,  219,  502-504; 
S.'s  undelivered  speech  on,  200, 
201;  Fenchurch  Street  building 
suit,  220,  226,  421;  and  share  in 
transfer  of  North- West  Territory 
to  Canada,  controversy  and  set- 
tlement, 241,  247,  253,  261,  407, 
419-430,  2,  183;  and  share  in  re- 
served lands,  1, 430, 507, 516, 520, 
2,  12,  21,  29,  30,  38,  44, 183,  201, 
202;  declining  condition,  1,  500, 
501,  504,  506-509;  Northcote's 
plan  to  recompense,  505;  and 
other  activities  of  Company, 
512.  513.  52i,  524.  5435  and  new 
Deed  Poll,  S^-S1^,  5i8,  521, 
522;  treatment  and  complaints, 
518,  2,  2,  16,  28-30,  35,  36,  39, 
43,  180,  185-187,  190,  191,  196, 
203;  S.'s  continued  interest,  1, 
525,  2,  2,  14,  15,  35,  36,  41,  180, 
188,  189,  193,  197,  198,  203,  204, 
206-209;  councils,  1,  539, 2,  3,  35, 
1 86,  194;  character,  i;  policy  of 
promotion,  5;  S.  on  concessions 
(1879),  19,  21,  22;  MacFarlane's 
memorial  (1886),  36-38,  41;  need 
of  union,  39,  187;  concessions 
(1886),  42;  neglect  of  old  officers, 
182;  pension,  182,  187,  193,  198- 
20 1 ;  beneficial  fund  threatened, 
183;  on  character  of  Commission- 
ers, 183,  184,  1 86;  proposed  new 
company,  187;  characteristic  re- 
sentment, 192;  passing  of  old 
officers,  194;  appointment  of 
officers,  194;  S.  on  life,  197;  all 
rights  as  partners  lost,  201; 


justice  of  protests,  201 ;  sacrificed 
by  policy  of  retrenchment,  202, 
203 ;  nativity,  212.  See  also  Hud- 
son's Bay  Co.,  Strathcona  (Hud- 
son's Bay  Co.). 

Witches'  Stone  at  Forres,  1,  4. 

Wolfe,  James,  S.  at  unveiling  of 
statue,  2,  428,  429. 

Wolseley,  Sir  Garnet  (Lord),  on 
conditions  in  Red  River  region 
('869),  1,  253,  254;  expedition 
against  Riel  Rebellion,  383,  388, 
389;  and  Governorship  of  Mani- 
toba, 379  «. 

Wolverton,  Lord,  and  reorganiza- 
tion of  Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  1, 177; 
Grand  Trunk  Railway,  459  n. 

Wrigley,  as  Chief  Commissioner,  2, 
182. 

Yermoleff,  and  emigration  to  Can- 
ada, 2,  289-291. 
Young,     search    for    cart    route, 

20 
»  o- 

Young,  George,  on  S.  at  Fort 
Garry,  1,  324  n.,  329,  375;  and 
execution  of  Scott,  357,  361-363; 
at  opening  of  Manitoba  Legisla- 
ture, 403. 

Young,  Sir  John,  and  Riel  Rebel- 
lion, 1,  307,  308,  343  n.;  and 
Chicora  incident,  384,  386;  and 
amnesty  for  Riel  Rebellion,  450, 

45i,  453- 
York  Factory,  conditions   (1872), 

If  522-525,  532. 

Yukon,  Fort,  and  Hudson's  Bay 
Co.,  1,  527,  528;  American  trad- 
ers, 2,  19,  23. 

Yukon  River,  navigation  in  Treaty 
of  Washington,  1,  417.  See  also 
Alaska. 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U    .    S    .   A 


A    000  887  276    4 


SOUTHERN  BKANCM, 

UNIVERSITY  OP  CALIFORNIA, 

LIBRARY, 

COS  ANGELAS,  CALIF 


